
29 January 2025
United Utilities Group PLC
Final Determination and Q3 Trading Update
Final Determination
The board of United Utilities Water today announces that it has accepted the Final Determination covering the five years to March 2030.
Our
· Delivering c.
· Improving water quality for over 2 million customers and enabling economic growth across the region
· Annual asset base growth of c.7%1 per annum, taking our AMP8 closing asset base to over
· Putting in place a sector leading
· Supporting 30,000 jobs and contributing
Louise Beardmore, Chief Executive Officer, said:
"With the final determination agreed, we are now able to progress what will be the largest investment in water and wastewater infrastructure in over 100 years, to build a stronger, greener and healthier North West.
This historic
Alongside record levels of investment, we are committed to maintaining affordable bills and providing support to customers who need it most. With a sector leading affordability package totalling
Most importantly, today's announcement means we can move forward and deliver the step change in performance we all want to see."
Financing AMP8
The group is in a strong financial position, with gearing2,3 of 60% and
After careful consideration of the final determination, the board confirms its intention to continue to target gearing in the range of 55 to 65%, and to aim to maintain United Utilities Water long-term issuer credit ratings of at least Baa1 with Moody's, BBB+ with Standard & Poor's (S&P) and an issuer default rating of at least BBB+ with Fitch (senior unsecured debt rating A-). This assumes that each ratings agency maintains current published ratio thresholds/guidance for United Utilities' ratings and no further changes to sector risk assessments or ratings methodologies.
Group dividend policy
The board today announces that we will continue to grow the dividend by CPIH inflation, in line with our long-term dividend policy.
Q3 Trading Update
United Utilities has continued to deliver a strong operating performance in Q3. We maintain our FY25 financial guidance and remain on track to deliver net ODI rewards higher than last year's
We recently announced a preferred bidder to design, build, finance and maintain the replacement of six tunnel sections under the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP). The aqueduct supplies water to 2.5 million people in
Future events
We will host a presentation and Q&A session with management at 9am, which can be accessed using the details provided below. A replay will be available on the company website.
Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86355733351?pwd=U4MU9dyFYAajwHlDwaXw9XvauK5QuF.1
Meeting ID: 863 5573 3351
Passcode: 464993
We will also be hosting a capital markets day on 19th June 2025 - details to follow.
Contacts
Investors and Analysts |
|
Chris Laybutt, Investor Relations and Clean Energy Strategy Director |
+44 7769 556 858 |
Jennifer Platt, Investor Relations Manager |
+44 7733 064 907 |
Media |
|
Gaynor Kenyon, Corporate Affairs Director |
+44 7753 622 282 |
Graeme Wilson, Teneo Communications |
+44 207 260 2700 |
Notes 1 Nominal, based on OBR long-run CPIH forecasts 2 Measured as group net debt including loan receivable from joint venture divided by UUW's adjusted RCV adjusted for actual spend, timing differences and including full expected value of ex-post adjustment mechanisms 3 United Utilities Group gearing and liquidity as at 30-Sep 24 4 Project will be outsourced to a third party competitively appointed provider (CAP) under Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC)
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