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UK regulated water and wastewater utility serving households and businesses in North West England.
UK regulated water and wastewater utility serving households and businesses in North West England.
Ofwat, the regulator, fixes in five-year price reviews how much it may charge customers and what return it may earn on the pipes and plants it invests in, so profit depends on those settlements and on beating the allowed cost and performance targets. Bills are linked to inflation within each period.
In one line: A UK regulated water utility, like American Water Works but for North West England.
Moat: wide (regulatory licence, scale). A regulated regional monopoly on water/wastewater infrastructure that new entrants cannot compete against.
Headquarters: Warrington, UK · Founded: 1995 · Employees: 7,370
Size United Utilities (UU..L) is a United Kingdom Utilities company (Water Utilities) with a market value of $15.4B, the 40th largest of 363 United Kingdom companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at £1,543 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 11.7%, against +2.9% for the median peer and +3.6% for the United Kingdom market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 7 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 22.0% over the last twelve months (peer median +9.3%); the operating margin is 41.1% (peer median 33.2%).
Valuation It trades at 14.7× forward earnings against a peer median of 15.2× (4th cheapest of 7).
Capital Return on invested capital runs 0.6 points below its cost of capital (7.4% WACC).
Credit United Utilities has 10 bonds outstanding ($5.82B), rated BBB+ by the agencies and trading like BBB at a weighted spread of 124 bp.
Next results Next results expected around 12 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £2.62B | £2.62B | £2.15B | £1.95B | £1.80B |
| Revenue growth | — | +22% | +10% | +8% | — |
| Gross profit | £1.27B | £1.27B | £934M | £800M | £734M |
| EBITDA | £1.58B | £1.58B | £1.08B | £904M | £845M |
| Net income | £587M | £587M | £265M | £127M | £205M |
| Free cash flow | -£110M | -£110M | -£70.4M | -£4.40M | £112M |
| Capital expenditure | £1.53B | £1.53B | £998M | £764M | £694M |
| Total debt | n/a | £11.5B | £10.8B | £10.0B | £8.44B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Utilities UU..L | $15.4B | +12% | +22% | 41% | 14.7× | n/a |
| Severn Trent SVT.L | $13.4B | +6% | +17% | 30% | 16.3× | n/a |
| Pennon PNN.L | $3.18B | -35% | +23% | 25% | 13.3× | n/a |
| American Water Works AWK | $29.9B | +21% | +5% | 37% | 23.9× | n/a |
| Veolia Environnement VIE.PA | $27.7B | -3% | 0% | 8% | 14.1× | 8.3% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | UU..L | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +9.0% | +8.1% | 4th highest of 7 |
| 6-month return | +11.7% | +2.9% | 3rd highest of 7 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -2.6% | -6.3% | 4th highest of 7 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +22.0% | +9.3% | 2nd highest of 7 |
| Operating margin | 41.1% | 33.2% | highest of 7 |
| Forward P/E | 14.7× | 15.2× | 4th cheapest of 7 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -0.6 pp | -1.2 pp | 2nd highest of 7 |
| EV / EBITDA | 13.4× | 11.7× | 4th cheapest of 7 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 6.2× | 5.0× | 2nd most indebted of 7 |
| Bond spread | 124 bp | 89 bp | 2nd widest of 5 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Utilities UU..L | United Kingdom | $15.4B | +12% | +22% | 41% | 14.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo SABESP Sponsored ADR SBS | United States | $16.3B | -24% | +9% | 31% | 11.8× | -3.4% | +14.6% |
| Severn Trent SVT.L | United Kingdom | $13.4B | +6% | +17% | 30% | 16.3× | n/a | n/a |
| Essential Utilities WTRG | United States | $12.9B | +21% | +9% | 36% | 19.8× | n/a | n/a |
| Veolia Environnement VIE.PA | France | $27.7B | -3% | 0% | 8% | 14.1× | 8.3% | +11.3% |
| American Water Works AWK | United States | $29.9B | +21% | +5% | 37% | 23.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Guangdong Investment 0270.HK | Hong Kong | $6.81B | 0% | +25% | 38% | 10.8× | -1.8% | -4.1% |
United Utilities has 10 bonds outstanding with $5.82B face value. The agencies rate it BBB+; its bonds trade like BBB. Weighted yield 5.39%, a spread of 124 bp over government bonds.