The owner of South West Water has cut its dividend by £2.4m after it was handed a record fine for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea. Pennon Water said the decision to reduce its total payout to investors by 0.84p a share to 44.37p showed "we are listening, clearing the way for long-term shareholder value". The business was fined £2.2m in April last year for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea in Devon and Cornwall, following an investigation by the Environment Agency that found South West Water culpable for significant environmental harm. The dividend, which is worth a total of £126.9m, comes as about 17,000 households were affected by a boil water notice after traces of the parasite were discovered in the company's water network in Brixham, Devon. The utility company, which also owns Bristol Water, said revenues increased by 10pc to £907.8m while pre-tax losses deepened from £8.5m to £9.1m.