Proactive Investors - United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU) updates on its full-year performance next Thursday, 16 May as a plan to invest billions in water infrastructure upgrades fast approaches.
Cash on hand and the FTSE 100-listed company’s balance sheet will be points of interest as a result, Hargreaves Lansdown’s Aarin Chiekrie noted ahead of the update.
Plans are to spend some £13.7 billion between 2025 and 2023 on expanding and upgrading water assets.
“[This] will require issuing new debt and pushing debt levels towards the top end of its target range,” Chiekrie said.
For the year so far, expectations for outcome delivery incentives, paid as bonuses to water firms for the likes of investment, were wound down by around £25 million in February due to wet weather.
This should see United net £40 million in the bonuses for the year, though expectations for an 8% increase in revenue to roughly £1.95 billion remain.
“This should more than offset an expected £60 million increase in underlying operating costs,” Chiekrie said.