United Utilities HY profit jumps on government incentives, lower costs

(Reuters) - British water supplier United Utilities on Wednesday said first-half earnings jumped 23.7 percent, helped by incentives from the country's regulator and lower costs.Water utilities in Britain enjoy delivery incentives paid by regulator Ofwat for meeting or exceeding targets, including project completions and customer service.United Utilities, which supplies water to three million homes and 200,000 businesses across the North West of England, said it expects to meet its target of..