Just like you never want to hear a doctor say "oops" in the operating room, you never want to see a going-concern statement in a financial report about a company you own. Accountants throw these in when they've been over the books, talked to customers, and checked the horoscopes and have concluded there is "substantial doubt" about a company's ability to remain in business. In short, don't blame the accountants if the company files for bankruptcy protection.

You¿d reckon that a going-concern statement would be enough to send investors running to the exits, but it's not. True, many large institutions automatically bail when an existing company gets slapped with one of these, but many individuals (often wrongly) take a chance they know more than the bean counters.

During the tech boom of the late 1990s, many companies actually went public even though they had been hit with going-concern statements. Many of those companies subsequently disappeared. Enough said.

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

UNITED UTILITIES PLC - United Utilities secures contract extension

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Comtex

May 07, 2008 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX News Network) ----

United Utilities PLC 7 May 2008 UNITED UTILITIES SECURES CONTRACT EXTENSION WITH SOUTHERN WATER THROUGH TO 2015 United
   Utilities PLC today announces that the 4D consortium, in which United Utilities has a 40 per cent share, has secured an extension
   to its contract with Southern Water through to 31 March 2015. The other members of the consortium are Costain and MWH. The
   original contract commenced in 2005 with responsibility for managing part of Southern Water's regulatory capital investment
   programme through to 2010. The total value of the original contract is worth around GBP700 million to the 4D consortium, although
   clarity regarding the size and value of the 2010-15 contract can not be confirmed until the outcome of the forthcoming price
   review is known. Chief Executive of United Utilities, Philip Green, said: "We are very pleased to have extended this contract
   through to 2015 in our key market for utility outsourcing. It builds on our strong performance and further supports our position
   as the leading utility infrastructure outsourcing company in the UK." United Utilities' contacts For further information please
   contact: Philip Green, Chief Executive +44 (0) 1925 237000 Tim Weller, Chief Financial Officer +44 (0) 1925 237000 Gaynor
   Kenyon, Communications Director +44 (0) 7753 622282 Darren Jameson, Head of Investor Relations +44 (0) 7733 127707 Dominic
   Fry / Tom Murray, Tulchan Communications +44 (0) 20 7353 4200 END