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United Utilities Group (STU:UUEC) Beneish M-Score : -2.62 (As of Dec. 15, 2024)


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What is United Utilities Group Beneish M-Score?

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.62 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for United Utilities Group's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

STU:UUEC' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -2.93   Med: -2.7   Max: -2.41
Current: -2.62

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of United Utilities Group was -2.41. The lowest was -2.93. And the median was -2.70.


United Utilities Group Beneish M-Score Historical Data

The historical data trend for United Utilities Group's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

United Utilities Group Beneish M-Score Chart

United Utilities Group Annual Data
Trend Mar15 Mar16 Mar17 Mar18 Mar19 Mar20 Mar21 Mar22 Mar23 Mar24
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.66 -2.73 -2.76 -2.93 -2.62

United Utilities Group Semi-Annual Data
Mar15 Sep15 Mar16 Sep16 Mar17 Sep17 Mar18 Sep18 Mar19 Sep19 Mar20 Sep20 Mar21 Sep21 Mar22 Sep22 Mar23 Sep23 Mar24 Sep24
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only - -2.93 - -2.62 -

Competitive Comparison of United Utilities Group's Beneish M-Score

For the Utilities - Regulated Water subindustry, United Utilities Group's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


United Utilities Group's Beneish M-Score Distribution in the Utilities - Regulated Industry

For the Utilities - Regulated industry and Utilities sector, United Utilities Group's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where United Utilities Group's Beneish M-Score falls into.



United Utilities Group Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of United Utilities Group for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.1018+0.528 * 1.004+0.404 * 0.6163+0.892 * 1.1144+0.115 * 1.0017
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.6248+4.679 * -0.039493-0.327 * 1.0981
=-2.59

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar24) TTM:Last Year (Mar23) TTM:
Total Receivables was €265 Mil.
Revenue was €2,279 Mil.
Gross Profit was €1,938 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €2,068 Mil.
Total Assets was €18,299 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €15,249 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €513 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €16 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €1,295 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €10,925 Mil.
Net Income was €148 Mil.
Gross Profit was €0 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was €871 Mil.
Total Receivables was €216 Mil.
Revenue was €2,045 Mil.
Gross Profit was €1,746 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €784 Mil.
Total Assets was €16,467 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €14,249 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €480 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €22 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €653 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €9,362 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(265.128 / 2278.958) / (215.931 / 2045.052)
=0.116337 / 0.105587
=1.1018

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(1746.376 / 2045.052) / (1938.313 / 2278.958)
=0.853952 / 0.850526
=1.004

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (2067.954 + 15248.737) / 18298.765) / (1 - (783.699 + 14248.827) / 16466.511)
=0.053669 / 0.087085
=0.6163

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=2278.958 / 2045.052
=1.1144

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(480.149 / (480.149 + 14248.827)) / (512.956 / (512.956 + 15248.737))
=0.032599 / 0.032544
=1.0017

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(15.548 / 2278.958) / (22.33 / 2045.052)
=0.006822 / 0.010919
=0.6248

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((10925.205 + 1295.014) / 18298.765) / ((9361.536 + 652.78) / 16466.511)
=0.667817 / 0.608163
=1.0981

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(148.346 - 0 - 871.019) / 18298.765
=-0.039493

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

United Utilities Group has a M-score of -2.59 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.


United Utilities Group Beneish M-Score Related Terms

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United Utilities Group Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
Lingley Green Avenue, Great Sankey, Haweswater House, Lingley Mere Business Park, Warrington, GBR, WA5 3LP
United Utilities Group is primarily a holding company for United Utilities Water, the country's largest regulated water and wastewater utility, serving customers in northwest England, including Manchester and Liverpool.

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