Shares in United Utilities were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the company said that it was on track to deliver half year results in line with expectations, for the period ending 30 September.

The group said that its financial position was robust and added that the government's planned reduction in corporation tax is likely to have a "broadly neutral" effect over the next five years.

Net cash borrowing is expected to be higher in the first half of the year, while the group said it intended to pay a total dividend of 30 pence per share.

Philip Green, Chief Executive of United Utilities, said, "The group is on track to deliver results in line with our expectations, reflecting the impact of the recent regulatory price review.

"In line with our strategy of focusing on our core activities, we have now agreed the sales of the vast majority of our non-regulated businesses for a total enterprise value of approximately £600 million.

"We believe that, with the group's consistent focus on its core activities and the low cost of its debt portfolio, we are well positioned to deliver outperformance over the 2010-15 regulatory period."

By 09:05 shares in United Utilities were up 0.09 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 574.00 pence per share.

FTSE