What’s brewing at These Three FTSE 350 Stocks – United Utilities Group Plc, M&G Plc and Royal Mail Plc

United Utilities Group Plc

United Utilities Group Plc (LON: UU.) is a Warrington, the United Kingdom based company that is engaged in the business of water and water related services to approximately seven million people and businesses in the United Kingdom. The company also manages the supply and distribution of regulated water and has created a wastewater treatment network within the country. The drinking water that the company provides to the homes and other places in the UK complies to the robust guidelines around the purity of the water set up by the authorities.

Financial Performance

On 20^th November 2019, the company announced its half year results for the six months ended 30^th September 2019 through a press release. The company reported that the revenue grew from £916.4 million in the first half of last year to £935.5 million in the first half of the current year. This was mainly driven by the company’s review and consideration of the allowed regulatory revenue changes. The company reported a decline in the reported operating profit from £339.1 million for the same period ended on 30^th September 2018 to £383.0 million in the current period ended on 30^th September 2019. The underlying profit after tax improved as compared to the same period in the previous year to £198.2 million. In light of a good performance, the management proposed an increased dividend to GBX 14.20 per share as compared to the same period in the previous year when the dividend was declared at GBX 13.76 per share.

Share Price Performance

On 22^nd November 2019, at 16:43 P.M GMT, after the market close when the share price was captured for the report, United Utilities Group Plc’s share price was at GBX 858.20 per share, an increase of 0.82 per cent or GBX 7.00 per share as compared to the previous day’s closing price. United Utilities Group Plc’s reported market capitalisation (M-Cap) stood at a value of GBP 5.80 billion.

The beta of the United Utilities Group Plc’s share was reported to be at 0.66. This means that the company’s share price movement is less volatile in its trend, as compared to the benchmark market index’s movement.

M&G Plc

M&G Plc (MNG) is a London, the United Kingdom based Financial services company that is engaged in the business of providing services like investment management as well as savings. The company operates as a leader in the savings management as well as the investments management space and helps its clients by managing investments for both individuals and for institutional investors, using products and instruments such as pension funds. The company operates under two brands- Prudential and M&G Investments. The company’s operations also include the Asset Management business and long-term savings business. In the year 2018, the company launched a new product called the M&G Positive Impact Fund, which broadened the availability to impact investing for retail or individual customers who would like to invest in companies or securities that are targeting to make a good impact on the society and environment. The company also launched, the M&G Credit Income Investment Trust, which allows the United Kingdom retail investors to put their money into a combined asset base of both public and private debt securities.

MNG Share Price Performance

On 22^nd November 2019, at 16:45 P.M GMT, after the market close when the share price was captured for the report, M&G Plc’s share price was at GBX 231.00 per share, an increase of 0.09 per cent or GBX 0.20 per share as compared to the previous day’s closing price. M&G Plc’s reported market capitalisation (M-Cap) stands at a value of GBP 6.00 billion.

Royal Mail Plc

Royal Mail Plc (RMG) is a London, the United Kingdom based Industrial Transportation business that mainly provides postal services. The company has developed an efficient network of a wide range of postal services and solutions which include letters, parcels as well as other new products. The company has a network of operations in 44 states around the globe. Post the recent acquisitions made by the company, they also have operations in eight states in the Western part of the United States of America and Canada. The company has two major business divisions which are UK Parcels, Internationals and letters (UKPIL) and General Logistics Systems (GLS).

RMG Financial Performance

On 21^st November 2019, the company announced its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 29^th September 2019. There was a 5.1 per cent year on year increase in the revenue to £5.166 billion in the current reporting period. This performance was mainly driven by the General Logistics Systems (GLS) revenue, which was up by around 14.1 per cent, including the acquisitions that were made by the company. The company also reported a higher operating profit to £61 million in the current reporting period, as opposed to a loss of £4 million that the company made during the same period in the last year, driven by reducing expenses in some specific items. It was also highlighted by the company that the adjusted group operating profit suffered a 13.2 per cent decline to £165 million in the current reporting period, mainly due to the poor financial performance of the UK Parcels, Internationals and letters (UKPIL) segment. The company reported that Basic earnings per share fell from GBX 13.6 per share to GBX 11.1 per share in the current period. The company also highlighted that In-year reported cash inflow was valued at £152 million, marking a decent performance by the company. In view of this performance, the board of the company proposed an interim dividend of GBX 7.5 per share, though it was less than the interim dividend declared in the same period of the previous year but in line with the company’s new dividend policy which was announced in May 2019.

RMG Share Price Performance

On 22^nd November 2019, at 16:46 P.M GMT, after the market close when the share price was captured for the report, Royal Mail Plc’s share price was at GBX 199.90 per share, an increase of 0.73 per cent or GBX 1.45 per share as compared to the previous day’s closing price. Royal Mail Plc’s reported market capitalisation (M-Cap) stands at a value of GBP 1.98 billion.

The beta of the Royal Mail Plc’s share was reported to be at 0.69. This means that the company’s share price movement is less volatile in its trend, as compared to the benchmark market index’s movement.