Companhia de saneamento Basico SBS

Competitive advantage analysis · utilities

Regulated Utilities
Overall moat score
58/100
Moderate

About Companhia de saneamento Basico

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP provides basic and environmental sanitation services in the São Paulo State, Brazil. The company supplies treated water and sewage services on a wholesale basis. As of December 31, 2024, it provided water services through 9.5 million water connections; and sewage services through 8.2 million sewage connections in the 375 … Full SBS analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Strong Regulated Margins Regulated margin level is strong (score 0.73), indicating favourable rate-case outcomes.
  • Earning the Allowed ROE Return on equity is strong vs peers (score 1.00), suggesting rate-base growth is translating into earnings.

Key risks

  • Thin Dividend Coverage Operating cash generation is weak (score 0.15), which may pressure dividend coverage.
  • Unstable Regulated Margins Margin stability is low (score 0.31), raising questions about rate-case predictability.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Regulatory Franchise

Developing
44

Where SBS ranks in Utilities - Regulated Water

Companhia de saneamento Basico ranks #7 of 15 scored companies in Utilities - Regulated Water by moat score — the top 47%. The widest moat in the group is American Water Works Company, I (AWK) at 72/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near SBS in Utilities - Regulated Water
# Company Moat score Rating
3 Essential Utilities, Inc. WTRG 69/100 Moderate
4 American States Water Company AWR 67/100 Moderate
5 Middlesex Water Company MSEX 63/100 Moderate
6 The York Water Company YORW 62/100 Moderate
7 Companhia de saneamento Basico SBS 58/100 Moderate
8 Pure Cycle Corporation PCYO 52/100 Moderate
9 California Water Service Group CWT 49/100 Developing
10 Aris Water Solutions, Inc. ARIS 48/100 Developing
11 Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. CWCO 48/100 Developing

See every Regulated Utilities company ranked by moat score →

How SBS scores on the Regulated Utilities defenses

Regulatory Franchise

Score 44 · 25% of the moat score

The franchise is the moat, granted rather than earned: an exclusive right to serve a territory in exchange for regulated prices and an obligation to supply.

Rate-Base Return Quality

Score 53 · 20% of the moat score

A utility earns an allowed return on the capital invested in its network, the rate base.

Dividend Sustainability

Score 62 · 18% of the moat score

Utilities are owned largely for income, and the dividend is only as safe as the operating cash flow behind it.

Capital Structure Discipline

Score 66 · 17% of the moat score

Regulated utilities carry more debt than almost any other sector, which suits how predictable their revenue is but makes credit quality a core competitive asset.

Operational Efficiency

Score 78 · 12% of the moat score

Efficiency is unusually consequential under regulation.

Essential Service Resilience

Score 66 · 8% of the moat score

Electricity, gas and water are bought in a recession at close to the volume bought in an expansion, which is why utility revenue barely tracks the economic cycle.

How each Regulated Utilities defense is measured, in full →

Understanding SBS's moat

What is Companhia de saneamento Basico 's moat score?

Companhia de saneamento Basico (SBS) scores 58 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #7 of 15 scored companies in Utilities - Regulated Water, the top 47%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 14 companies in Utilities - Regulated Water. Its strongest defense is Operational Efficiency (78/100) and its weakest is Regulatory Franchise (44/100).

How does Companhia de saneamento Basico compare with other Utilities - Regulated Water companies?

Companhia de saneamento Basico ranks #7 of 15 scored companies in Utilities - Regulated Water by moat score. The widest moat in Utilities - Regulated Water is American Water Works Company, I (AWK) at 72/100. The companies ranked closest are The York Water Company (YORW) at 62 just above it and Pure Cycle Corporation (PCYO) at 52 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Regulated Utilities in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 14 companies in Utilities - Regulated Water. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Companhia de saneamento Basico scored with the Regulated Utilities template?

A regulated utility is a legal monopoly whose prices are set by a regulator rather than by a market. It cannot raise prices at will and it cannot be undercut, so most of the usual questions about competitive advantage barely apply. What matters is the quality of the regulatory bargain: whether the company earns the return it is allowed, funds its capital programme cheaply, and sustains the dividend investors own it for.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Companhia de saneamento Basico ?

The Regulated Utilities template measures 6 defenses, and SBS scores: Regulatory Franchise (44), Rate-Base Return Quality (53), Dividend Sustainability (62), Capital Structure Discipline (66), Operational Efficiency (78), Essential Service Resilience (66). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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