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Our performance

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To help measure progress on how well we are delivering our purpose and adding value for all our stakeholders, we monitor and measure our performance against each stakeholder group.

Operational performance

commuities
customers
employees
enviroment
investors
suppliers

Communities

Our progress this past year

  • Committed to supporting the Government's Kickstart Scheme by providing 250 placements to young people, working with our supply chain.
  • Hosted the industry's first Social Mobility Summit.
  • Provided ongoing charitable support, including a donation to the FareShare charity, supporting them in delivering 600,000 meals to struggling families across the region.
  • Adapted our community engagement approach in response to COVID-19 restrictions, consulting virtually rather than traditional face-to face exhibitions.

KPI performance

  • Community investment
Read case study

Customers

Our progress this past year

  • Took swift proactive action to secure an additional £15 million to help customers whose incomes had been affected by COVID-19.
  • Accelerated payments of the £71 million financial support we committed to provide over AMP7, providing much needed assistance to struggling families.
  • Now supporting around 200,000 customers through our extensive range of support schemes.
  • Significantly increased the availability and performance of our digital channels with over 1 million customers engaging with us digitally.
  • Met or exceeded over 80 per cent of performance commitments in areas that customers value most.
  • Achieved the Utilities and Telecoms Team of the Year at the 2020 Credit Awards.

KPI performance

  • C-MeX
Read case study

Employees

Our progress this past year

  • Facilitated home working for over 3,000 of our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Conducted over 390 COVID-secure risk assessments.
  • Supported the wellbeing needs of our colleagues, delivering initiatives to help build resilience across our workforce.
  • Included in the top one per cent of 15,000 companies across Europe in the Financial Times' Statista Survey for Diversity and Inclusion Leadership.
  • Our employee accident frequency rate for 2020/21 was 0.094 accidents per 100,000 hours worked, representing a 15 per cent improvement on performance from the prior year.

KPI performance

  • Employee engagement score
Read case study

Environment

Our progress this past year

  • Met our leakage target for the 15th consecutive year, and we are now at the lowest ever level reported in the North West.
  • Delivered zero serious pollution incidents for the second year running, and around one third reduction in pollution overall.
  • Progressing well with our six carbon pledges, including the use of science-based targets to reduce our carbon footprint.
  • Committed to the sector's net zero carbon pledge by 2030, and became a proud signatory to the UN Race to Zero campaign.
  • Continued to develop our approach to natural capital, working with stakeholders to develop a north west natural capital baseline.

KPI performance

  • Environment Agency's annual performance assessment
Read case study

Investors

Our progress this past year

  • Achieved a £21 million net customer ODI reward for 2020/21. The net reward earned this year will be reflected in an increase to revenues earned in 2022/23.
  • Our AMP7 totex plans will be extended by £300 million, with plans to accelerate our digital transformation, extend our environmental programme and exploit spend to save opportunities.
  • Published our new sustainable finance framework, allowing us to raise finance based on our strong ESG credentials, and subsequently issued our debut sustainable bond.
  • Attained World Class rating in Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the 14th consecutive year.
  • Ranked as leading water utility in the Sustainalytics' ESG Risk Rating assessment.

KPI performance

  • Return on Regulated Equity (RoRE)
Read case study

Suppliers

Our progress this past year

  • Continued to work closely with our supply chain, protecting our suppliers and customers while maintaining delivery of critical services during the pandemic.
  • Supported the north west economy through acceleration of capital expenditure in the first year of AMP7, helping to generate jobs and income.
  • Successfully launched our new responsible approach to supply chain management for AMP7 called United Supply Chain (USC), recognising suppliers as an extension of the United Utilities family.
  • Launched our third Innovation Lab programme, encouraging innovative solutions from suppliers around the world.

KPI performance

  • Invoices paid within 60 days
Read case study

KPI STATUS KEY

Met expectation/ target

Close to meeting expectation/target

Behind expectation/target

Baseline year

Financial performance

We delivered a robust set of financial results for the year ended 31 March 2021, supported by a strong balance sheet with low customer debtor risk, a responsible level of gearing and a fully-funded pension scheme on a low-dependency basis.

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Interactive view
Year ended 31 March
Continuing operations		2021
£m		2020
£m		2019
£m		2018
£m		2017
£m
Revenue1,809.01,859.31,818.51,735.81,704.0
Reported operating profit602.1630.3634.9636.4605.5
Underlying operating profit602.1732.1677.6639.1612.8
Reported profit before tax551.0303.2436.2432.1442.4
Underlying profit before tax460.0534.8500.9411.0418.7
Reported profit after taxation453.4106.8363.4354.6433.9
Underlying profit after tax383.0486.3449.5389.6365.0
Reported earnings per share (basic)66.5p15.7p53.3p52.0p63.3p
Underlying earnings per share56.2p71.3p65.9p57.1p47.7p
Dividend per ordinary share43.24p42.06p41.28p38.73p38.38p
Non-current assets13,179.013,215.712,466.411,853.611,768.2
Current Assets1,012.9828.4721.41,149.9657.9
Total assets14,191.914,044.113,187.813,003.512,426.1
Non-current liabilities(10,157.2)(9,877.3)(9,025.0)(8,911.1)(8,914.7)
Current liabilities(994.8)(1,204.7)(1,052.0)(1,141.6)(689.8)
Total liabilities(11,152.0)(11,082.0)(10,077.0)(10,052.6)(9,604.5)
Total net assets and shareholders' equity3,039.92,962.13,110.82,950.92,821.6
Net cash generated from operating activities859.4810.3832.3815.6820.8
Net cash used in investing activities(549.3)(593.9)(627.7)(723.2)(804.6)
Net cash (used in)/generated from financing activities(89.7)(27.8)(377.4)184.722.0
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents220.4188.6(172.8)277.138.2
Net debt7,305.87,227.56,990.46,816.86,326.7
RCV gearing(1) (%)62%61%60%61%59%
  1. Regulatory capital value (RCV) gearing is calculated as group net debt (see the notes to our financial statements, note A2), divided by the RCV expressed in out-turn prices, of United Utilities Water Limited.
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The selected financial data set out above should be read in conjunction with the Financial Statements and related notes, as well as with this Strategic Report.

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