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Willis Towers Watson (STU:WTY) Beneish M-Score : -2.35 (As of May. 11, 2024)


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What is Willis Towers Watson Beneish M-Score?

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.35 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Willis Towers Watson's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

STU:WTY' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -2.75   Med: -2.46   Max: -1.39
Current: -2.35

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Willis Towers Watson was -1.39. The lowest was -2.75. And the median was -2.46.


Willis Towers Watson Beneish M-Score Historical Data

The historical data trend for Willis Towers Watson's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Willis Towers Watson Beneish M-Score Chart

Willis Towers Watson Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.37 -2.72 -2.36 -2.48 -2.28

Willis Towers Watson Quarterly Data
Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.47 -2.50 -2.25 -2.28 -2.35

Competitive Comparison of Willis Towers Watson's Beneish M-Score

For the Insurance Brokers subindustry, Willis Towers Watson's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Willis Towers Watson's Beneish M-Score Distribution in the Insurance Industry

For the Insurance industry and Financial Services sector, Willis Towers Watson's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Willis Towers Watson's Beneish M-Score falls into.



Willis Towers Watson Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Willis Towers Watson for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 0.9374+0.528 * 0.9886+0.404 * 1.0329+0.892 * 1.0337+0.115 * 1.0592
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.3742+4.679 * 0.005295-0.327 * 1.0031
=-2.36

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar24) TTM:Last Year (Mar23) TTM:
Total Receivables was €2,236 Mil.
Revenue was 2153.72 + 2672.138 + 2029.542 + 1992.757 = €8,848 Mil.
Gross Profit was 919.08 + 1457.113 + 756.159 + 749.476 = €3,882 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €13,471 Mil.
Total Assets was €27,818 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €1,145 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €456 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €-50 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €12,069 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €5,407 Mil.
Net Income was 174.8 + 570.374 + 127.432 + 86.762 = €959 Mil.
Non Operating Income was -107.64 + -49.518 + -87.141 + -85.839 = €-330 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 22.08 + 478.674 + 368.241 + 273.208 = €1,142 Mil.
Total Receivables was €2,307 Mil.
Revenue was 2095.896 + 2569.568 + 1972.53 + 1921.326 = €8,559 Mil.
Gross Profit was 869.554 + 1377.296 + 735.28 + 730.312 = €3,712 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €14,894 Mil.
Total Assets was €29,800 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €1,214 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €524 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €-130 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €13,906 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €4,757 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(2235.6 / 8848.157) / (2306.98 / 8559.32)
=0.252663 / 0.269528
=0.9374

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(3712.442 / 8559.32) / (3881.828 / 8848.157)
=0.433731 / 0.438716
=0.9886

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (13470.64 + 1145.4) / 27818.04) / (1 - (14893.564 + 1214.2) / 29800.204)
=0.474584 / 0.459475
=1.0329

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=8848.157 / 8559.32
=1.0337

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(524 / (524 + 1214.2)) / (455.682 / (455.682 + 1145.4))
=0.301461 / 0.284609
=1.0592

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(-50.248 / 8848.157) / (-129.914 / 8559.32)
=-0.005679 / -0.015178
=0.3742

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((5406.84 + 12068.56) / 27818.04) / ((4756.862 + 13906.326) / 29800.204)
=0.628204 / 0.626277
=1.0031

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(959.368 - -330.138 - 1142.203) / 27818.04
=0.005295

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Willis Towers Watson has a M-score of -2.36 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.


Willis Towers Watson Beneish M-Score Related Terms

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Willis Towers Watson (STU:WTY) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
C/o Willis Group Ltd, 51 Lime Street, London, GBR, EC3M 7DQ
In January 2016, Towers Watson and Willis Group merged to form Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, insurance brokerage, and solutions company. The company operates in two business segments: health, wealth, and career (its consulting operations) and risk and brokering (its brokerage operations). It has about 47,000 employees.

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