Woodford sells £250m utilities stake

Invesco Perpetual's Neil Woodford has sold his £250m stake in Northumbrian Water Group, as regulations restrict the firm's potential to provide decent returns.

Woodford's move brings his recent stake sales in the water sector to almost £700m, after significant disposals in Severn Trent and United Utilities, the Telegraph reports. The fund manager, who is Britain's largest utility investor, now has only a 12% holding in Pennon and owns South West Water. Woodford says in his latest quarterly update: "During the quarter, holdings of two water utility companies, United Utilities and Northumbrian Water Group, were sold. These sales reflected a concern that the regulated nature of the businesses could hamper their ability to provide a return on eq...