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United Utilities Group Plc
OTC Bulletin Board: UUGWF | London Stock Exchange: UU | Frankfurt Stock Exchange: UUEC
Company Description
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water company, with revenue of approximately £1.5 billion. The group’s subsidiary, United Utilities Water PLC (UUW), owns and manages the regulated water and wastewater network in the North West of England, serving a population of around seven million people. As part of United Utilities’ continuing focus on its core activities, the group announced in November 2010 that it had completed its non-regulated disposal programme.
UUW is regulated by an independent body, Ofwat, which sets price limits every five years for the water sector in England and Wales. The current price limits took effect from 1 April 2010. Regulated revenue is set by reference to inflation as measured by the retail prices index (RPI). Price cap regulation in the UK is performance based and companies are incentivised to be efficient in terms of their operating costs and capital investment programmes. UUW’s household customers pay just over £1 per day for high quality drinking water and the removal of wastewater which is returned safely to the water environment.
UUW has been funded to deliver a c£3.6bn regulatory capital investment programme during the 2010-15 period, resulting in 12% real growth in UUW’s regulatory capital value (RCV), the capital base from which water companies earn a return. The company’s investment has brought significant benefits to the region: the quality of drinking water has improved further and the region’s rivers and beaches are at their cleanest for generations. United Utilities has retained both its 'World Class' rating in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and its 'Platinum Plus' ranking in the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility index.
United Utilities has a robust capital structure and a sustainable dividend policy, targeting 2% per annum growth above the rate of RPI inflation through to at least 2015.
Featured Media
Sustainable Catchment Management Programme
Executives
- Dr John McAdam, Non-executive chairman
- Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Chemical Physics, Diploma Advanced Studies in Science, PhD Appointment to the board: Appointed as a non-executive director in February 2008 and as chairman in July 2008 Committee membership: Nomination (chairman) Current directorships/business interests: Chairman of Rentokil Initial plc, senior independent director of J Sainsbury plc, non-executive director of Rolls-Royce Group plc and Sara Lee Corporation Career experience: Appointed to the board of ICI plc in 1999 and became chief executive in 2003, a position held until ICI’s takeover by Akzo Nobel.
- Steve Mogford, Chief executive officer
- Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Astrophysics/Maths/Physics Appointment to the board: January 2011 Committee membership: Nomination Current directorships/business interests: Non-executive director of Carillion PLC Career experience: Chief executive of SELEX Galileo, the defence electronics company owned by Italian aerospace and defence organisation Finmeccanica. Previously chief operating officer at BAE Systems PLC, and a member of its PLC board and he spent his earlier career with British Aerospace PLC.
- Russ Houlden, Chief financial officer
- Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Management Sciences, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers Appointment to the board: October 2010 Committee membership: Treasury Current directorships/business interests: None Career experience: Chief financial officer at Telecom New Zealand. Previously he was finance director of Lovells between 2002 to 2008 and prior to that was finance director at BT Wholesale, BT Networks and Information Services, ICI Polyurethanes and ICI Japan.
- Dr Catherine Ball CB, Independent non-executive director
- Qualifications: MA Geography, PhD Economic History Appointment to the board: March 2007 Committee membership: Nomination, audit, renumeration and corporate responsibility (chairman) Current directorships/business interests: Non-executive director of the Civil Aviation Authority, Ensus Limited and the Department of Health Career experience: A former civil servant and acting permanent secretary at the Department for Trade and Industry. Previously a non-executive director of Swiss Re GB Plc.
- Paul Heiden, Independent non-executive director
- Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Biology, Chartered Accountant ACA Appointment to the board: October 2005 Committee membership: Audit (chairman), nomination and treasury (chairman) Current directorships/business interests: Non-executive chairman of Talaris Topco Limited, non-executive director of Meggitt plc and London Stock Exchange Group plc Career experience: Formerly chief executive of FKI plc and prior to that group finance director of Rolls-Royce plc. Previous senior finance roles at Hanson PLC and Mercury Communications and has been a non-executive director of Bunzl plc and Filtrona plc.
- Nick Salmon, Senior independent non-executive director
- Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Mechanical Engineering Appointment to the board: April 2005 Committee membership: Nomination and remuneration Current directorships/business interests: Chief executive of Cookson Group plc Career experience: Formerly executive vice-president of Alstom S.A. and of ABB Alstom Power and chief executive of Babcock International Group plc. Previous senior management positions held at GEC and GEC Alsthom in the UK and France and the China Light and Power Company, Hong Kong.