Strategic Business & Investment Plan – Athens Water Co. (EYDAP), Greece

The Athens Water & Sewerage Company (EYDAP) is an Athens Stock Exchange-listed private company serving 4.5m people in the Attiki region of Greece, with an annual turnover of approx. €340m in 2013.

In early 2014 EYDAP commissioned Piraeus Bank (financial), Battus Associates and Bahas Grammatidis (legal) to develop a full Business and Investment Plan covering all aspects (financial, technical and regulatory) of the actions to be implemented that allow EYDAP to meet its challenges over the next five years (2015-2019) and the financial outcomes from that plan. This was also to cover the various fund-raising options (equity, debt, retained earnings etc.).

At the core of the Plan was a financial model developed by the investment bank to which Battus Associates contributed the following:

Assessment of water and wastewater treatment plant operating costs and performance (and benchmarking)
Networks operation (water and wastewater) and costs
Non-revenue water analysis and corrective actions
Assessment of a proposed €140m customer meter installation programme (1.5m meters)
Developing forecasts of future demand volumes and revenues
Reviewing the capital programme required to support these demand forecasts and deliver financial outcomes
Developing the future forecast operational costs to support these financial outcomes.
Developing a range (12) of alternative scenarios covering demand growth, opex costs and capex programmes for financial modelling
Ensuring the tariff and legal requirements were fully complied with.

The study also examined and developed a number of scenarios for the future financing of the CAPEX investment programme and OPEX costs through a range of options including debt and commercial paper issue. The Business Plan and Financial Model were developed in both Greek and English and presented to the full EYDAP Board where the recommended option was approved.