Market sort of going side ways of late

But I'm amazed that this one has hardly moved up In the last week

30p divi due tomorrow.

Anyone else watching these?

People gone for the post divi day rise on this one then.

Had to make do with the divi and small profit, out at 1009.5p

thats a shame - looks set to go a lot higher now. especially with the potential Gazprom bid/

Anyone still in SSE? There's the potential for more consolidation in the sector now that E.ON's bid for Endesa has floundered. And SSE have been winning customers hand over fist from all of their major competitors.

Not me Queen1, think i was in for the divi back in 2005.

As you say possible consolidation in this sector due.

Thanks Stan - best of luck wherever your money now lies.

Electrifying!

Scottish & Southern Energy said it has set a long term objective of doubling its dividend after increasing this year's dividend by 18.3%. The company posted a 23.5% rise in adjusted pretax profit to about 1.08bn.

SSE said it was increasing the full year dividend to 55p a share, up from 46.5p last year and representing a 69.8% rise since 2001/02. It said it plans to deliver at least 4% annual real growth in the dividend paid to shareholders in respect of 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10.

'Thereafter, SSE expects to continue to deliver at least sustained real growth in the dividend,' the group said in its results statement.

SSE said its strategy of having a balanced regulated and non-regulated portfolio of energy-related businesses delivered 'another year of excellent financial performance' in the 12 months to March 31st.

The group said the 23.5% rise in profits before exceptional items, accounting changes and after the removal of tax on profits from joint ventures, resulted in pretax profit rising above 1bn for the first time.

It said its policy of 'responsible pricing' had helped it to increase customer numbers during the year by more than a million to 7.75 mln. It said there had been a further reduction of 47% in complaints reported by Energywatch and it had achieved 100,000 'Talk' telecoms customers for the first time, resulting in a 5.3% rise in operating profit at its telecoms division to 13.9m. 'In addition, there has been very good progress in our major investment programme, with the result that our asset base in energy networks, electricity generation, energy supply and gas storage, which has grown substantially in recent years, will again increase significantly in the coming years,' chairman Sir Robert Smith said in a statement.

The company said its gas storage division increased operating profit by 104.8% to 55.9m while contracting, connections and metering lifted profits by 9.8% to 51.6m.

The generation and supply division increased operating profit by 44.5% to 642.6m and operating profit at the group's energy systems operation rose slightly to 471.1m against 470.6m previously.

A great company doing everything well. They also top the Energy Watch League which means they get less customer complaints than any other energy provider in the UK. And before disgruntled posters get on board to slag them off it's less customer complaints, not no complaints. Nobody's perfect:

Scottish & Southern Energy said its 2007-08 results are 'slightly ahead' of brokers' forecasts, and that its investment plan for the Ferrybridge power station will focus on a new 800 megawatt (MW) supercritical and carbon capture-ready plant.

The company also said it will not proceed with the installation of a 500MW supercritical boiler and steam turbine at Ferrybridge, as costs across the power equipment sector have risen. The focus on an 800MW unit would secure a 'significant' improvement in the thermal efficiency, from around 37 pct for the existing plant to around 45 pct, it said.

It will also deliver a significant reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of electricity produced, the company added.

Any new coal plant is unlikely to be commissioned before 2014, with a decision to be made around the turn of the decade, it said, adding it has completed a review of its plans and investment opportunities in electricity generation. This follows its adoption of a target to reduce by 20 pct, over 10 years, the amount of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of electricity produced at power stations in which it has an ownership or contractual interest.

Scottish & Southern said it has entered into an agreement to merge its Renewable Technology Ventures Ltd (RTVL) unit with marine energy conversion company Aquamarine Power Ltd to create an enlarged marine energy company.

The company also said that it is entering into an agreement to support the refurbishment of hydro electric stations in Brazil, with the purchase of about 160,000 carbon emissions reduction certificates over a period of six years. This is in line with its strategy to support the development of clean sources of energy in other parts of the world to address the global challenge of climate change, it said.

Scottish and Southern Energy has entered into an agreement with Vital Energi Utilities Ltd, where SSE will invest 6million for a 30% share of the business.

Vital Energi is an established energy services contractor that specialises in the design, supply and installation of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and District Heating systems in the commercial, industrial and residential sectors. A typical CHP scheme generates electricity through the combustion of natural gas, landfill gas or biomass and then supplies the electricity and 'waste' heat to a local community.

SSE recently reached an agreement with Berkeley Homes (East Thames) Ltd, to provide the energy services requirements for their major development, The Warren, in south east London. Under the ESCO Agreement, SSE will be responsible for installing an energy centre, including a CHP plant, which will serve over 450 apartments, a nursery unit, primary care trust and commercial units. SSE will also undertake all associated heat, electricity and gas infrastructure, metering and billing customer services, long-term operations and maintenance services and all fuel procurement requirements. Vital Energi is SSE's main contractor on this development and is responsible for all elements relating to the installation of the required energy centre and the heat distribution network.

Ian Marchant, SSE Chief Executive, said: 'Our investment in Vital Energi demonstrates our commitment to providing sustainable solutions for our customers throughout the UK and supports our existing Energy Services business. We believe that towns and cities can play a significant role in fighting climate change, through the use of more efficient community heating projects which can also generate electricity. In locations with high heat demand density and smaller property sizes, community heating with CHP is likely to be one of the most effective and economic ways to deliver Carbon savings.'

Solid results, good new business and a dividend up 20%!

Scottish & Southern Energy said at the release of its half year results that it is set to supply power to Irish industrial and commercial customers by the first quarter of 2008.

SSE's move follows the merging of the Northern Irish power market with the Republic of Ireland market in November. CEO Ian Marchant told reporters: 'We will be open to business and customers [in Ireland] by Q1 next year.'

'We decided one year ago that the all-Ireland market would be an attractive market to enter.' SSE already has a license to supply to all customers in Ireland.

'We'll focus initially on industrial and commercial customers,' he added. 'We will support that with generation from our GB portfolio over the Irish interconnector,' where the company has 5 MW of capacity.

'At some point it will lead to generation build on the island of Ireland. Whether that means acquisition or investment, we have both options open to us.'

In the UK, Marchant told Thomson Financial News that gas price cuts for its residential customers this winter is 'unlikely' due to high wholesale prices. 'To see price cuts this winter we would have to see a collapse in wholesale gas prices like last year. It looks unlikely because gas is more than double what it was last year.'

Much of the problem in predicting the future for retail prices is caused by volatility in the market, Marchant added. 'Future wholesale gas prices have been very volatile. It is difficult to understand why prices have done that and it is therefore difficult to make a call on the future of retail prices.'

SSE reported a strong set of half year results to Sept-end, boosted by earnings from its generation and supply (G&S) business which benefited from lower wholesale prices earlier in the year. G&S generated operating profit of 474.3 mln stg, up 59 pct from 298 mln last year, driven mainly by lower wholesale energy prices. Scotia Gas Networks also improved its contribution, up 87 pct from 22 mln stg last year to 41.1 mln stg.

The company's adjusted pretax profit was up at 664.7 mln stg from 466.5 mln over the same period last year, ahead of analysts expectations. Adjusted earnings per share rose to 57.2 pence from 40.4p, also slightly ahead of analysts' predictions. The interim dividend beat analyst expectations, set at 18.1 pence, up from 15.1p last year.

In a note, Citigroup said: 'Full year dividend is now likely to be up 20 pct to 66p giving a 4.4 pct yield. SSE is gradually increasing leverage through investment, share buyback and enhanced dividends.'

Marchant also spoke of SSE's intention to grow in renewables, but struggled to get all its wind farm proposals off the ground. 'There has been some progress in renewables,' he said. 'We've been disappointed with the amount of consents we have got. Only two of our wind farms were given consent and we would like there to have been more.'

About government support for such projects in Scotland, Marchant said: 'We have said to the Scottish government, 'if you're not careful you will get left behind.''

Marchant said that SSE is looking at further growth into water supply. SSE has already been granted its first inset appointment in southern England, supplying 950 homes, which Marchant said is 'the first of many' future inset appointments.

More green credentials for SSE:

Scottish & Southern Energy said it has completed the acquisition of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power generation plant for 49.25 mln stg. It announced last November that it was buying power generator Slough Heat and Power Ltd from property group Segro PLC, formerly known as Slough Estates PLC.

Slough Heat and Power includes a combined heat and power (CHP) plant with potential generating capacity of 101 megawatts. The plant is the UK's largest dedicated biomass energy facility and its main sources of fuel are wood chips, biomass and waste paper. The site has its own fibre fuel processing plant, which takes delivery of waste paper products and converts these into useable fuel.

Part of the plant is contracted under the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation and part of it produces more than 200 gigawatt hours of output qualifying for renewable obligation certificates (ROCs), which is equivalent to around 90 megawatts of wind generation.

Around 140 staff are joining SSE as a result of the acquisition.

SSE chief executive Ian Marchant said he was particularly pleased SSE now owns and operates the UK's largest dedicated biomass energy facility, although he added that all the assets at Slough were important.

'As well as reinforcing our position as the UK's leading generator of electricity from renewable sources, this will give us a platform from which to build up our interests in biomass and waste-to-energy, areas which we believe will become increasingly important over the next decade.'

Scottish & Southern Energy said customer gains made it the UK's second largest supplier of electricity and gas in the nine months to December 31st.

The group forecast results for 2007/08 in line with current broker forecasts.

SSE said the number of electricity, gas and telecoms customers increased by 650,000 to 8.4 mln during the period, while the number of customer complaints received by industry watchdog Energywatch fell 22% to 495 against the same time a year ago.

The company said it remains on course to deliver sustained real dividend growth in the years ahead and, specifically, to deliver at least 4% annual real growth in respect of 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10.

'More immediately, it is on course to deliver financial results for 2007/08 as a whole which are in line with the current consensus of brokers' forecasts,' it said in a trading statement.

I sold out yesterday at 1260p, just as well when you look at the RNS below, a very lucky boy indeed. I had a feeling that sse debt was starting to look a tad too high, but at least they are acting now. I had planned to buy back in at 1070p, but will wait for now.

...........................................

Scottish and Southern Energy has announced a placing of around 40 million shares, representing up to 5% of its issued ordinary share capital, in a move to bolster its balance sheet and fund investment of up to 6.7bn over the next five years.

The placed shares will carry the right to SSE's interim dividend of 19.8p per share declared on 12th November 2008, and to subsequent dividends.

But they haven't yet decided at what price the placing will be. Worth watching for a possible bargain, imo.

Worth waiting for things to settle down, hopefully before the ex divi date 18th Feb at 19.8p.

New article and analysis, click HERE

NOTTINGHAM STREET LIGHTING PFI

SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy plc), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tay
Valley Lighting (Nottingham) Ltd has been awarded a 25-year contract with
Nottingham City Council for the replacement and maintenance of over 40,000
lighting columns and illuminated signs in the city, under the Private Finance
Initiative (PFI). It was appointed preferred bidder in March 2010.

This latest contract takes the number of local authorities with which SSE has
long-term street lighting replacement and maintenance PFI contracts to 11 and
the number of lighting units covered by such contracts to over 550,000.

Colin Hood, Chief Operating Officer of SSE, said:

"SSE is well
established as the UK's leading street lighting contractor, and this latest
contract will build on that. The Nottingham Street Lighting PFI will create
safer and improved lighting for the people of Nottingham, and we will work hard
to make sure a high standard of service and delivery."

EDF Sets Second UK Grid Sale Bid Date For June 21-Source
By Carol Dean
Of Dow Jones Newswires

LONDON (Dow Jones)

State-controlled utility Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) has requested second round bids by June 21 in the sale of its U.K. power grids, said one person familiar with the situation Wednesday.

These bids are binding and require the bidder to disclose its financing arrangements for the acquisition, the person said.

Binding offers were initially expected to take place by the end of May but the process has been delayed to enable the potential buyers to carry out their due diligence and to enable the trustees of the U.K. grids business pension plan to undertake a review of bids made to date, the person said.

As previously reported by Dow Jones Newswires, the three potential buyers comprise Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong Infrastructure, or CKI; the U.K. utility Scottish and Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN) along with Canadian infrastructure fund Borealis; and sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Macquarie Capital and Canada Pension Plan.

Indicative bids were submitted by these three consortium in March, people close to the matter previously told Dow Jones Newswires.

Buyers are likely to be looking at valuations of around GBP4 billion to GBP4.5 billion while EDF may be looking at GBP4.5 billion to GBP5 billion for the assets, the people said.

CORRECT:Scottish&Southern Not Planning EDF Distribution Networks Deal
("Scottish & Southern Not Planning EDF Distribution Networks Deal," at 0614 GMT, misstated the company code for EDF Energy in the first paragraph. The correct version follows:)

LONDON (Dow Jones)

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN), an electricity company, said Tuesday it will not seek to acquire an ownership interest in the electricity distribution networks currently owned by EDF Energy Networks (EDF.FR) on a scale that would need to be funded by issuing new shares.

MAIN FACTS:

-Scottish & Southern will continue to work with Borealis Infrastructure (Borealis) in the current sale process being run by EDF, the outcome of which could, potentially, result in SSE having a small ownership interest in the networks.

-Shares closed at 1052 pence Friday.

.

Acquisition of Upstream Gas Assets


TIDMSSE

RNS Number : 0563N
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
04 June 2010

?
SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY PLC
ACQUISITION OF UPSTREAM GAS ASSETS

Rights of pre-emption associated with the North Sea natural gas and
infrastructure assets which SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy plc) agreed on 1
April 2010 to acquire from Hess Limited have now been exercised or expired.

Following this, almost 80% of the resources from the original package of
around 383billion cubic feet (bcf) are available for SSE to acquire at an
equivalent value as indicated in April. Gas production from these assets is
forecast to be in excess of 200Mth (million therms) in 2010, rising to about
300Mth in 2012, which will provide approximately 6% of SSE's needs. A revised
cash consideration of $324million will be paid for these assets subject to
further partner and regulatory approvals before completion later this year.

The assets subjected to pre-emption were primarily Everest, Lomond, Neptune and
the CATS pipeline.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, Energy Supply Director of SSE, said:

"It
was to be expected that some of Hess' existing partners would exercise their
pre-emption rights, but we are very pleased with the assets which we can now go
ahead and acquire. For a fair price, we will secure a new source of primary
fuel and a hedge for our gas generation and supply activities, taking a very
useful first step into the upstream gas sector."


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

Scottish & Southern Energy: Low Carbon Energy Deal With Mitsubishi
Scot.&Sth.Enrgy (LSE:SSE)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Friday 16 July 2010
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN), a U.K. energy company, said Friday it has entered into a strategic agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (7011.TO) and Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe Ltd. to co-operate on low carbon energy developments.

MAIN FACTS:

-The agreement will enable the partners to explore a range of technologies including offshore wind farms, advanced technology for smart electricity grids and low carbon vehicles, carbon capture and storage and high-efficiency power generation.

-Companies hope to establish joint development projects, ventures, investments and supply arrangements through this agreement.

-The agreement with Mitsubishi expected to lead to up to 100 additional new, highly-skilled, engineering-based jobs being created at the Centre of Engineering Excellence in Renewable Energy in partnership with the University of Strathclyde.

-Subject to the progress of the agreement, SSE and Mitsubishi intend to focus on, in the first instance, the delivery of renewable energy from offshore sites and the deployment of low carbon vehicles.

Interim Management Statement.

Operational update
In the three months to 30 June 2010 (comparisons with the same three months in 2009, unless otherwise stated):



SSE's Total Recordable Injury Rate was 0.10 per 100,000 hours worked, compared with 0.14 during 2009/10 as a whole;

the number of electricity and gas supply customer accounts in the energy markets in Great Britain and Ireland increased by 100,000 to 9.45 million; including home services, SSE's total customer base is now 9.87 million, up from 9.5 million a year ago;

gas-fired power stations achieved 97% of their maximum availability to generate electricity, excluding planned outages; coal-fired stations achieved 90%*;

output from gas-fired and coal-fired power stations was 5,450GWh, compared with 5,085GWh*;

renewable energy output (from conventional hydro electric schemes, wind farms** and dedicated biomass plant) was 700GWh, compared with 1,000GWh, reflecting weather conditions;

underlying consumption of electricity by SSE's household customers in Great Britain fell by 2.0 %; underlying consumption of gas by SSE's household customers fell by 2.4 %;

the number of Customer Minutes Lost in the Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution area was 16, compared with 14; in the Southern Electric Power Distribution area it was also 16, compared with 14; and

the amount of replacement and reinforcement gas mains laid by Scotia Gas Networks was 325km, compared with 310 km.

Scottish & Southern Energy Raises Household Gas Bills By 9.4%

Today : Friday 29 October 2010
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN) said Friday it will increase its prices for household gas by 9.4% on Dec. 1.

MAIN FACTS:

-The increase will affect around 3.6 million customers, including 0.4 million customers in Scotland and 0.4 million in Wales.

-Current forward annual wholesale gas prices (for the period from October) have increased by over 25% since SSE last implemented a package of changes to prices for household gas, in March 2010.

-Since this price change, SSE has been the cheapest 'big six' supplier of household gas, with a price 6% cheaper than the average of this group.

-Throughout this time, gas supply has been a loss-making activity for SSE and its gas supply business, Southern Electric Gas Ltd, has traded at a loss for several years.

-Following the implementation of the price change announced Friday an annual SSE gas bill for a standard quarterly customer will increase by:

* GBP4.64 per month, to GBP650, based on a consumption of 16,500kWh, the new typical annual domestic gas consumption proposed by Ofgem in July following a consistent decline in average domestic gas consumption levels; or

* GBP5.60 per month, to GBP782, based on the current typical annual domestic gas consumption value used by Ofgem of 20,500kWh.

.

Half Year Results.

.

RNS Number : 4994Z

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC

14 January 2011

SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY PLC

FIRST ELECTRICITY GENERATED AT GREATER GABBARD AND WALNEY OFFSHORE WIND FARMS

SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy plc) has confirmed today that a milestone has been reached at both Greater Gabbard and Walney offshore wind farms, which have each generated electricity for the first time.

Colin Hood, SSE's Chief Operating Officer, said: "This is a major milestone in the development of Walney and Greater Gabbard offshore wind farms. As the UK's leading generator of electricity from renewable sources, SSE is committed to helping to increase further the amount of renewable electricity generation in the UK, and the export of electricity at Walney and Greater Gabbard is a step towards achieving this."

Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm, in which SSE owns a 50% stake, is being developed with RWE npower renewables, the UK subsidiary of RWE Innogy. It is located approximately 23km off the Suffolk coast, in the North Sea. The first three turbines have now been energised and have exported electricity to the National Grid.

Paul Coffey, Chief Operating Officer at RWE Innogy, said: "We are delighted to have reached this stage in the project. Constructing a wind farm of this size is a complex task but once fully operational, Greater Gabbard will be the world's largest offshore wind farm."

Walney offshore wind farm, in which SSE owns a 25.1% stake, is being developed with DONG Energy and a consortium of PGGM and Dutch Ampere Equity Fund. Located in the Irish Sea, approximately 15km west of Barrow-in-Furness, it consists of two wind farms - Walney 1 and Walney 2 each with a capacity of 183.6MW.

Construction of Walney 1 started in March 2010 and is progressing well with all of the planned 51 turbines having been successfully installed. The first turbines have now been energised and have exported power to the national grid. Walney 1 is expected to be fully commissioned in the first half of 2011. Construction of Walney 2 is due to start around March and be fully commissioned by the end of 2011.

Niels Bergh-Hansen, Executive Vice President of DONG Energy, said: "The United Kingdom has a very ambitious plan for expanding the production of renewable energy and a target of making green energy and reliability of supply go hand in hand, and we are pleased to be able to contribute to the expansion of renewable energy. The first power from Walney is a tangible result of our efforts to increase our production of renewable energy".

12 month high today.

Interim Management Statement.

Nice brace of 'higher lows'.

.

Yes - they are just below my last exit point and they are on my buy list (again).

.

Paid this Friday :-)

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Yes 526 - having said that, they are up +39 on the day.

Close period and large capital projects update


As stated in its Interim Management Statement on 21 July 2011, SSE expects that a particularly large proportion of its adjusted profit before tax will be delivered in the second half of this financial year. This means that adjusted profit before tax for the six months to 30 September 2011 will be significantly lower than in the same six months in 2010 and 2009, but this should have no implications for the full financial year.

SSE remains on course to achieve its principal financial objective for 2011/12, an increase of at least 2% more than RPI inflation in the dividend payable to shareholders, and expects to maintain a dividend cover around its established range.

WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY PRICE TRANSPARENCY

SSE is to introduce a new and transparent approach to the management of its electricity supply and demand requirements. This approach will see SSE phase in the auction of all of its electricity supply1 and purchase all of its electricity demand, in the day ahead market.

SSE aims to begin this approach by trading a proportion of its total electricity supply and demand by Friday 14 October 2011 - with the expectation that it will reach 25% during November. The volume of electricity transacted in this way will then be increased gradually over the next few months with the expectation that all of SSE's electricity supply and demand will be traded in the day ahead market by the end of its current financial year (subject to market conditions and costs).

.

Yes - along with British Gas.

Half Year Results.

Continuing commitment to financial principles

13th successive increase in the interim dividend - up 7.1%
Targeting full-year dividend increase of at least RPI + 2%
Moderate increase forecast for full-year adjusted PBT*
Single A credit rating maintained
Additional long-term funding of 426m secured at good rates
Ongoing investment in new assets through six-month capital investment of 796.9m
Forecasting capital/investment expenditure of around 1.7bn for 2011/12

Delivering efficiency and innovation in energy networks

Energy Networks operating profit up 9.5% to 320.4m
Focus on staying at efficiency frontier in electricity distribution
NINES 'smart' programme on Shetland secured Ofgem funding approval
Ofgem funding approval for Beauly-Denny upgrade (539m at 2009/10 prices)
Inclusion of SHETL in Ofgem's new fast-tracking process for post-2013 Price
Control
Continuing progress by SGN regarding in-sourcing services from National Grid
Biggest award (1.3m) made to SGN under Ofgem's Discretionary Reward Scheme


CCS Joint Development Agreement

RNS Number : 0541U

SSE PLC

15 December 2011

SSE plc

IMPLEMENTATION OF SALES GUARANTEE FOR

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CUSTOMERS

SSE will implement its sales guarantee for household energy customers from next month (January 2012). Under the guarantee, any customer who shows that they switched their energy supply to SSE after being given inaccurate information or being misled will have any resulting financial loss made good. The guarantee is one of 10 proposals to build trust in energy supply published by SSE in October 2011.

To ensure fairness between existing and new customers, the guarantee will apply to any household energy sale made by SSE since October 2009, when Ofgem placed new obligations on energy suppliers to make sure sales activities are conducted in a fair and professional manner.

From late January onwards SSE will initially write to all of its existing customers who it signed up through the doorstep sales channel between October 2009 and July 2011 (around 400,000) to make them aware of the guarantee and to let them know what they need to do if they believe they have suffered any financial loss. In July 2011, SSE became the first supplier in the Great Britain market to stop commission-based doorstep selling of electricity and gas.

A sales guarantee information line* has been set up and a helpline will become fully operational in late January, when SSE starts to write to customers.

While it is not possible to predict precisely how many customers may have suffered a financial loss as a result of switching energy supplier, SSE believes that around GBP5m should be sufficient to meet any claims under the guarantee arising from energy sales between October 2009 and the end of 2011. The application of the guarantee will be independently assured so that customers have the maximum possible confidence in the process. The provider of the independent assurance will be appointed in the New Year.

To complement the sales guarantee, and also as part of its plans to build trust in energy supply, SSE is currently piloting with customers an Annual Energy Review. The aim of the Review is to ensure that customers are on the right tariff and payment method to suit their needs and to highlight opportunities for other energy improvements such as efficiency. Every SSE customer will be offered an Annual Energy Review from October 2012.

SSE supplies electricity and gas as Scottish Hydro, Southern Electric, SWALEC and Atlantic, as well as SSE. In September 2010, Ofgem launched an investigation to establish whether four suppliers (EDF Energy, npower, Scottish Power and SSE) were complying with the obligations it introduced in October 2009. SSE is co-operating fully with Ofgem's investigation, which is ongoing.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, Generation and Supply Director of SSE, said:

"We agree with Ofgem about the need to restore customers' trust in the energy supply market and to treat customers fairly. That's why we have decided to introduce this sales guarantee and to implement it retrospectively.

"We believe that most of our energy sales have been conducted in a fair and professional manner and that customers of SSE benefit from our commitment to consistently competitive prices over the medium term and sector-leading service.

At the same time, good service starts with the sales process and if customers have actually suffered a loss as a result of that process, we will acknowledge that and make good that loss.

"We have been saying for some time that energy is a significant purchase and the sales process rightly requires increasingly significant customer safeguards. This guarantee, and the retrospective application of it, is a practical demonstration of putting words into action."

* The number for the SSE sales guarantee information line is 0845 0707 388.

It contains a recorded message with information about the guarantee. From late January onwards, SSE will operate a helpline on the same number.

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Yes - I'd like to add here - as and when.

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mnamreh - You may not have seen this news for 3IN.

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There in lies the rub!

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Agreed - as I said, I'd like to add some more - which I will do before the next ex dividend (27th Jan) - but hopefully a touch South of the current price!

Chart now in header.

I didn't mean the SSE chart :-) Thanks Stan.

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mnamreh - it has to be done by the thread originator or MAM - in the case of GKP the originator is goal. if you click on his/her name, you will be able to send them an internal email (assuming they still post here).

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Mn,

We can only change what's in the opening post of a thread if we started the thread.

So for GWP you will need to use the MAM private email service to ask "Goal" who started the thread if he/she can add said chart.

Skinny has just emailed me to do it on this thread.

Oops delayed post -):

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http://money.aol.co.uk/2011/12/16/sse-energy-to-refund-after-mis-selling/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk%7Cdl4%7Csec1_lnk3%7C88848

Thought this was funny, OFFECKING WOTS

Its fraud and theirs no other word for it and our so call regulator has done a **** job once again 5,000,000 its a joke people were conned ...pure and simple..There should be proper compensation not a chocolate bars worth for all affected...Get rid of these OFFECKING WOTS ASAP

.

Yes - more good news. I think I've missed the opportunity (this time) to top up.

I guess down on the EDF price drop ?

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I'm hoping for £12.40ish. I maybe being a bit optimistic !

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Yes I hope so - ex-dividend 2 weeks today 25th Jan @24p.

Stan

its not going side ways now

He was in short trousers when he posted that

Someone has found a new emoticon website!

Its the one I always use.

.

One can but hope!

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HOUSEHOLD GAS PRICES FROM 26 MARCH 2012

SSE will cut its unit price for household gas by 4.5% from 26 March 2012.
Around 3.5 million households in Britain will benefit from the reduction, which will cut typical gas bills by around £28 a year1.

SSE has also decided to extend by another two months its commitment to cap household electricity and gas prices, from August 2012 to October 2012. This means that it will not implement any price increases before October 2012 at the earliest, but will implement more price reductions if it can.

Customers of M&S Energy will also benefit from the gas price reduction and the extended gas and electricity price cap.

SSE will also introduce a new three-year fixed price option for electricity and gas customers, with a premium of 4% on the standard prices for units that will apply from 26 March 20122.

To make sure that supplies to its customers are secure, SSE buys most of its gas months, and sometimes years, in advance of when it is actually delivered to customers. Virtually all of the gas being supplied to customers this winter was bought some time ago, but some of the gas that will be supplied to customers from the spring onwards has been purchased since the period of lower wholesale prices began. Having analysed and considered the position for some time, SSE is able to announce this reduction in household prices.

Wholesale gas costs account for around 55% of household gas bills3. From 16 January 2012, SSE will publish online a breakdown of all of the costs that make up a household customer's bill, in advance of the breakdown appearing on all customers' bills later this year.

SSE increased household gas prices by 18% in September 2011. It also increased household electricity prices in September 2011, by 11%, which is the only time it has increased household electricity prices since August 2008. It supplies energy as SSE, Scottish Hydro, Southern Electric, SWALEC and Atlantic.


Alistair Phillips-Davies, Generation and Supply Director of SSE, said:

"I hope that this package of measures will give our customers some respite from the seemingly endless rises in household costs that we have seen in recent times. The cut in household gas bills shows customers that we will bring down prices when we can and our decision to extend to October our pledge not to increase prices will give our customers some additional certainty about the costs they will face in the course of this new year. The introduction of our new fixed price product also gives customers the option to put a ceiling on the price they pay for energy through to 2015.

"In addition to price, the issues of service and trust are vital. SSE continues to be the industry leader for customer service and last month Consumer Focus announced SSE remains the only supplier with a 5 Star rating in their league table. We are also making good progress with the package of measures we announced in October to build customers' trust in energy supply."

-ends-

Did somebody mention Short Trousers?

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:-)

Hold on mn, I'll just go to my summer wardrobe and check -):

Well I got my top up at 1240.

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Thanks - I did waver as it looked as if we were heading lower - anyway, its done now.

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Yes - c'est la vie - I've received my NG dividend today, so may add if it hits £12. Yield 6.09%

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Yes ex divi next week.

25th Jan (24p) interim divi. Your 6.09% is presumably based on both divis being received on an averaged sp?

Yes - and at the price that prevailed as I typed :-)

with sse it is worth keeping in mind that they have promised to pay an annual divi that for a period of either 4 or 6 years will be at least 2% over rpi - last divi was 75p wasnt it?? i dont have the finer detail right now but that is it in a nut shell - always worth having some of these in your back pocket right now!!

Yes - 52.60p + 22.40p = 75p Followed by 24p interim in November.

cheers skinny - i havent lost my mind quite yet then!!

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I sold my recent purchase today @1231 (-9) or +15 with the dividend.

Hoping to buy back @1215.

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Every little helps - which reminds me ...........

mnamreh - knowing of your interest in Vattenfall, you may want to read this - 3i Infrastructure plc - Interim Management Statement I would start a thread, but there is little or no interest on here for such companies.

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Just bought back @1212.

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Well done if you got in near £12.

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Good luck - I now have SSE and VOD back at prices I'm happy with - these have both been good over the last year as trading and yielding shares. I also have BARC back on my list after selling the week before last - but may lower my 'wish' price.

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Interim Management Statement.

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

SSE plc remains on course to deliver an increase in the dividend per share, an increase in adjusted profit before tax for the financial year to 31 March 2012 and to deliver on its key operational goals. This Interim Management Statement includes updates on operations, major projects, issues such as household customers' energy consumption, other developments and an updated financial outlook.

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Sold my recent purchase +38. I hope to buy back again - but the world appears to have gone mad!

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Thanks mnamreh - maybe a tad early, but I've taken a few shares off the table today.

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Yes - story of my life :-) I've done similar with ARM this last couple of weeks also!
I still have my core holding of both - ARM from around a quid.

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I've also had plenty the other way :-(

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mnamreh - I read that and couldn't quite understand either!

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SSE plc
Disposal of stake in NuGeneration Ltd

SSE has completed the sale of its 25% stake in NuGeneration Ltd ("NuGen"), the joint venture company established to develop proposals for a new nuclear power station in West Cumbria, to NNB Development Company S.A. ("NNBD") - a 50:50 joint venture between GDF Suez S.A. and Iberdrola S.A. The stake has been sold for an upfront cash consideration of £5.75m with a further contingent payment of £1.25m dependent on progress with the development of the West Cumbria site.

SSE announced its intention to dispose of its stake in NuGen in September 2011 after concluding that, for the time being, its resources are better deployed on business activities and technologies where it has the greatest knowledge and experience.

NuGen has an option to purchase the lease of land for the development of a new nuclear power station, of up to 3.6GW (gigawatts), near Sellafield in West Cumbria. The option was secured in October 2009 for an initial cash consideration of £19.5m (SSE share was 25%) and the site was named as a suitable place to build a new nuclear power station in the National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation published in June 2011.

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RNS Number : 0708Y

SSE PLC

24 February 2012

SUBMISSION TO THE SCOTLAND OFFICE, THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT AND THE ECONOMY, ENERGY AND TOURISM COMMITTEE OF THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

SSE has considered the practical implications for its businesses of the consultations issued in January 2012 by the UK Government and the Scottish Government and they are set out below. In doing so, SSE is mindful of the fact constitutional arrangements are matters for voters.

SSE employs people, serves customers, owns and operates assets and has plans to invest in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It expects to continue to be a significant business in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the short, medium and long term and has a legitimate expectation that its investments in existing assets will continue to be adequately remunerated. SSE has no plans to move its Registered Office from Perth.

SSE believes that the interconnection and integration of the electricity and gas systems and markets in Scotland and in England and Wales should continue regardless of the outcome of the referendum on Scotland's future. This means that there should continue to be a single energy market for the islands of Great Britain, just as there is a single electricity market for the island of Ireland. Indeed, SSE supports further harmonisation of energy systems and markets to strengthen security of supply and achieve efficient use of energy resources for the benefit of customers.

SSE has long acknowledged, most recently in its Annual Report 2011, that regulatory change and legislative change, of which the current proposals to reform the electricity market in Great Britain are an example, are among the principal risks it has to manage, and it has extensive experience of doing so.

The forthcoming referendum, however, increases the risk of regulatory change and legislative change with regard to the electricity and gas industry in Scotland because it means there is additional uncertainty about the future. This additional risk will apply up to the date of the referendum and, should the result be a vote in favour of a change in Scotland's status, will continue until there is a binding agreement on all of the issues that could affect the electricity and gas industry in Scotland.

This is because under the existing arrangements investment in new long-term electricity and gas assets in Scotland and England and Wales is effectively remunerated through the bills paid by electricity and gas customers throughout Great Britain. These arrangements were established by the United Kingdom Parliament, and Ofgem regulates electricity and gas markets in Great Britain.

New arrangements would have to be established in the event of Scotland deciding it would no longer be part of the United Kingdom and becoming independent. Determining those arrangements would be just one aspect of the extensive negotiations between the Scottish and UK governments which would follow. In these negotiations no issue, including the electricity and gas industry, would or could be looked at in isolation from all of the others.

Moreover, there does not appear to be a consensus on how Scotland's position with regard to the European Union, which has a major influence over electricity and gas systems and markets in Member States, would be determined in the event of a referendum result in favour of Scotland ceasing to be part of the United Kingdom.

To be sustainable, all investments have to be adequately remunerated and additional uncertainty about key issues such as regulation and legislation makes decision-making in long-term businesses more difficult. This means SSE has a responsibility to consider the risks to adequate remuneration when making investment decisions concerning any operations and assets, including those in Scotland. Its policy, most recently described in its six-month financial results statement published in November 2011, is to apply where appropriate a risk premium to the level of remuneration expected from individual projects.

The practical application of this policy means that when making final decisions with regard to possible new investments in Scotland, which will have to be adequately remunerated if they are to be made, SSE will have to decide whether the additional risk of regulatory and legislative change with regard to Scotland means it should apply a risk premium to the investment proposal. If it concludes that a risk premium should be applied, it will have to determine what that premium should be; and, if a risk premium is applied, it will have to assess the impact of that premium on whether or not to proceed with the investment proposal.

Making investment decisions is about striking the right balance between risk and reward. The additional risk of regulatory and legislative change does not mean that SSE will not invest in projects in Scotland while its future is being determined. The development of SSE's existing projects in Scotland will continue as planned. It does mean, however, that the additional uncertainty represents increased risk, of which SSE will have no alternative but to take account in making final investment decisions on those projects while that additional uncertainty remains.

It does not mean that anyone should seek to attribute to SSE a view on whether or not Scotland should remain part of the United Kingdom: SSE does not believe it is appropriate for it to have a view on that question, which can only be answered by voters.

Notes

SSE is involved in electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply and in gas production, distribution and supply in Scotland. It employs 5,300 people in Scotland and has operational sites throughout Scotland. Its total capital expenditure in Scotland for the year to 31 March 2012 is forecast to be almost GBP900m.

SSE has no wish to become involved in a constitutional or political debate. This submission should be considered in its entirety, and SSE will not be adding to it with on- or off-the-record comment to the media.

SSE plc

February 2012

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Preliminary results for year ended 31 March 2012


SSE acquires 130,000 Customers in Northern Ireland

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Phoenix agrees to sell its gas supply arm

Phoenix Energy Holdings Limited (PEHL) has entered into an agreement to sell Phoenix Supply Limited, its regulated gas supply business in Northern Ireland, to SSE plc, through its subsidiary Airtricity (Energy Supply) Northern Ireland Limited.

In addition PEHL has agreed to sell Phoenix Energy Limited, a separate gas supply company operating in the Republic of Ireland to SSE, through its wholly-owned Republic of Ireland-registered subsidiary Airtricity Limited.

Phoenix will continue to focus on investing and growing its core business, Phoenix Natural Gas, which operates the Greater Belfast natural gas network and is responsible for making gas available to around half the population of Northern Ireland. Phoenix remains one of the largest private sector investors in Northern Ireland, connecting over 8,000 homes and businesses to its natural gas network every year.

The sale is subject to approval by the Irish Competition Authority.

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Nothing obvious!

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Who would have thought it 20 years ago.

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ACQUISITION OF ELECTRICITY GENERATION ASSETS

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mnamreh - what has happened to your posts?

Ex-divi wed 25th july '12 (56.1p)

Press Release

OFGEM CONSULTS ON £22 BILLION INVESTMENT PLANS TO UPGRADE BRITAIN'S GAS AND HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRICITY NETWORKS

· Around £22 billion allocated to upgrade and renew Britain's gas and high voltage electricity networks. This will ensure that Britain's networks remain among the most reliable in the world

· Investment is integral to secure Britain's future energy supplies and is part of the £200 billion identified as part of Ofgem's Project Discovery regarding security of supply

· Ofgem's close scrutiny of companies' plans secures project investment and ensures value for consumers

A predictable drop of around 60p so far after going Ex.Divi today.

Now down -71p, recovery play anyone?

Finished down -70p at the close, will be interesting to see if there is a bounce tomorrow.

Stan - similar to last years ex divi?

Interim Management Statement

Operations

In the three months to 30 June 2012 (comparisons with the same three months in 2011, unless otherwise stated):

· SSE's Total Recordable Injury Rate was 0.13 per 100,000 hours worked, compared with 0.11 during 2011/12 as a whole;

· Networks: the number of Customer Minutes Lost in the Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution area was 17, compared with 16; in the Southern Electric Power Distribution area it was also 17, compared with 16;

· Networks: the amount of replacement and reinforcement gas mains laid by Scotia Gas Networks was 304km, compared with 263km;

· Retail: SSE's number of electricity and gas customer accounts in markets in Great Britain and Ireland increased from 9.55 million to 9.66 million, reflecting 130,000 customers gained through the completed acquisition of Phoenix Holdings Ltd on 23 June 2012;

· Retail: average consumption of electricity by SSE's household customers in Great Britain increased by almost 6%; average consumption of gas by SSE's household customers increased by 42%, reflecting cooler weather conditions (on a weather-corrected basis, however, there was an underlying reduction of 2.5% in average household gas consumption and no underlying change in average household electricity consumption);

· Wholesale: total electricity output* from gas-fired and coal-fired power stations was 5,690GWh, compared with 9,905GWh, reflecting planned outages at Keadby and Medway power stations;

· Wholesale: total electricity output* from renewable sources (conventional hydro electric schemes, onshore wind farms and dedicated biomass plant) was 1,331GWh, compared with 1,325GWh;

Interesting comparison Skinny (P143), worth keeping an eye on it IMHO.

Well no point in buying these today for a short term return with the Dow up over 200p is there?

Exodus at SSE as gas and electricity customers rush to beat price rises

Thousands of gas and electricity customers are leaving SSE in protest at the nine per cent price rise announced last month.

According to one online switching company, which monitors energy trends, up to 50,000 users have signed up with cheaper suppliers in the past three weeks. There are estimates that a further 20,000 could leave by the end of this week.

Mark Todd, marketing director at energyhelpline.com, said switching volumes from SSE, formerly Scottish & Southern Energy, were up 742 per cent since the price rise was announced on August 22.

Half Yearly Results

STRATEGY AND FINANCE

Delivering sustained real growth in the dividend

· Interim dividend up 5.0% to 25.2p per share

· Targeting full-year dividend increase of at least RPI +2% for 2012/13

· Targeting annual dividend increases above RPI inflation in 2013/14 and beyond

· Adjusted earnings per share* up 40.6% to 35.3p

· Adjusted profit before tax* up 38.3% from £287.4m to £397.5m (2010: £385.5m)

· Outlook for full-year adjusted profit before tax* to be provided in Q3 IMS, as planned

· Ongoing investment in new assets through six-month capital expenditure of £699.2m

· Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital up £298m to £7.054bn since 31 March 2012

· Medium/long-term funding, including hybrid capital, of £1.48bn secured at good rates

· Average debt maturity of 10.9 years

Ex dividend tomorrow 25.2p

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Haven't seen that MN, thanks for the alert.

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Interim Management Statement

SSE plc is on course to deliver an increase in the dividend per share and an increase in adjusted profit before tax for the financial year to 31 March 2013 and to achieve key operational and investment objectives.

This Interim Management Statement summarises SSE's performance since the start of the current financial year, which began on 1 April 2012, and includes updates on operations and investments in SSE's Networks, Retail and Wholesale businesses since the publication of its six-month results on 14 November 2012.

It also includes a financial outlook, and SSE is forecasting an increase of around 4% to 5% in adjusted profit before tax for 2012/13 and an increase of at least 2% more than RPI inflation in the full-year dividend, to around 84 pence per share.

Sale of wind farm capacity

SSE has agreed to sell four wind farms1 with a total generation capacity of 79.5MW to a new fund managed by Greencoat Capital2, for a total cash consideration of £140m. SSE will invest up to £43m of the consideration into shares in the new fund. In the event that the fund is over subscribed, SSE's investment in the fund will reduce.

NOTIFICATION OF CLOSE PERIOD


SSE plc will enter its close period from 1 April 2013, prior to the publication on Wednesday 22 May of its financial results for the year to 31 March 2013.

Developments since publication of IMS
Since the publication of its Interim Management Statement (IMS) on 31 January 2013, SSE has:

· launched a Customer Service Guarantee under which it promises to meet a new set of energy supply customer service commitments or give customers £20 off their next bill;
· announced that a total of 30,180 shareholders elected to receive the interim dividend for the year ended 31 March 2013 of 25.2 pence per ordinary share in respect of 327,303,253 ordinary shares in the form of Scrip dividend, resulting in a reduction in interim dividend cash funding of £82.5 million;
· set out updated plans for the operation of, and investment in, capacity for generating electricity at its thermal power stations that will result, amongst other things, in 2,000MW of existing capacity ceasing operation during 2013/14; and
· completed the sale of four wind farms with a total generation capacity of 79.5MW to a new fund managed by Greencoat Capital for a total cash consideration of £140m, and taken a £10m stake in the new fund.

OFGEM FINES SSE £10.5 MILLION FOR MISSELLING

OFGEM FINES SSE £10.5 MILLION FOR MISSELLING

· Ofgem found SSE failures at every stage of the sales process
· SSE management failures led to prolonged and extensive misselling
· Proposed SSE fine is largest ever imposed on an energy supplier

Exane BNP Paribas Outperform 0.00 1,620.00 1,620.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 0.00 1,400.00 1,400.00 Reiterates

Citigroup Sell 0.00 1,270.00 1,270.00 Retains

Preliminary Results

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

"In consecutive weeks in the early spring of 2013, SSE confronted two of the biggest issues it has had to face since it was formed in 1998. The last week of March saw extreme snow falls and ice in the west of Scotland which inflicted unprecedented damage on the electricity network on Arran and Kintyre. Over 500 engineers and other employees from the company were deployed to help restore electricity supplies to households, businesses and other premises, working closely with a wide range of authorities and agencies. This was SSE at its best.

"The first week of April saw the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority propose a £10.5m penalty on SSE for breaches of licence conditions in relation to sales of electricity and gas, mainly between 2009 and 2011, which SSE accepted immediately. Like everyone else associated with SSE I have no hesitation in apologising unequivocally for the breaches that occurred; but while the breaches were clearly wrong, the response has been absolutely right.

"SSE has undertaken major reform of its Retail operations since 2011, including introducing at the end of that year a sales guarantee to make good any financial loss experienced by customers joining SSE, and launching earlier this year the industry's first-ever customer service guarantee, backed by a financial commitment. This is now SSE at its best too.

"A generally good performance in 2012/13 has enabled SSE to extend its unbroken record of annual increases in the full-year dividend and in adjusted profit before tax*. This ability to deliver consistently increases in the full-year dividend and in adjusted profit before tax shows the resilience inherent in its balanced model of economically-regulated and market-based energy businesses and the robustness of its strategy of focusing on operations and investments in each of those businesses.

"A carefully-maintained balanced business model and a clear strategic emphasis on operations and investments, including learning lessons from the past to improve performance in the future, have been consistent features of SSE since the company was formed in 1998. The other consistent feature of the company has been the first financial objective of its business model and strategy: to deliver sustained real growth in the dividend payable to shareholders.

"Throughout this time, Ian Marchant has been a remarkably successful finance director and then chief executive of SSE. He is the first to acknowledge, however, how much he owes to Alistair Phillips-Davies and Gregor Alexander and SSE is fortunate indeed to have these two very able and experienced executives, and a very strong management team generally, to take forward the business after Ian, having completed an exceptional decade as chief executive, steps down at the end of next month.

"While there will be a change of chief executive in the company, and while the energy sector is subject to change driven by regulation, legislation, technology, demand for natural resources and the needs of customers, there are four things at SSE that won't change: the balanced business model; the focus on operations and investment; the dedication to customer service; and the commitment to sustained real growth in the dividend in the years ahead."

Lord Smith of Kelvin
Chairman, SSE plc

Ex-divi wed 31st July (59p)

Interim Management Statement

Operations
In the three months to 30 June 2013 (comparisons with the same three months in 2012, unless otherwise stated):

· SSE's Total Recordable Injury Rate was 0.15 per 100,000 hours worked, compared with 0.14 during 2012/13 as a whole;
· Networks: the number of Customer Minutes Lost in the Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution area was 14, compared with 17; in the Southern Electric Power Distribution area it was 16, compared with 17;
· Retail: SSE's number of electricity and gas customer accounts in markets in Great Britain and Ireland fell from 9.47 million to 9.46 million;
· Retail: average consumption of electricity by SSE's household customers in Great Britain was estimated to be 920kWh, compared with 940kWh; average consumption of gas by SSE's household customers in Great Britain was estimated to be 96kWh, the same as in the previous year. On a weather-corrected basis however, there was an underlying reduction of 2% in average household electricity consumption and an underlying increase of 0.3% in average household gas consumption.
· Wholesale: total electricity output* from gas and oil fired power stations was 2,219GWh, compared with 1,954GWh, partly reflecting the return to service of Medway; from coal-fired power stations output was 3,569GWh, compared with 3,737GWh; and
· Wholesale: total electricity output* from renewable sources (conventional hydro electric schemes, onshore and offshore wind farms and dedicated biomass plant) was 1,756GWh, compared with 1,331GWh, partly reflecting additional capacity being in operation.
· * Output from electricity generating plant in which SSE has an ownership interest (output based on SSE's contractual share).

Investment
In its Annual Report 2013, SSE set out its investment priorities for 2013/14, including commissioning new assets and meeting other construction and development milestones in its programme of investment in its Networks and Wholesale businesses. It is forecasting total capital and investment expenditure of around £1.5bn for 2013/14 as a whole. In the three months since 1 April 2013:

· Networks: SSE's subsidiary Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission has completed work on reinforcing and upgrading the transmission network between Dounreay and Beauly; in addition, the Beauly-Fort Augustus ('North') section of the 400kV Beauly-Denny replacement line has now been energised.
· Wholesale: SSE has continued to add to its capacity for generating electricity from renewable sources, including Calliachar wind farm (32MW), which has taken its total to 3,283MW.
· Wholesale: Work is progressing well at SSE's 460MW CCGT development at Great Island in the South-East of Ireland. The majority of civil works are completed, the 400-tonne transformer has been delivered, the power train has been positioned and the 60-metre stack has been constructed. The main activity is now focused on the delivery of mechanical and electrical works. The plant is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2014.

Other developments
Since the publication of SSE's financial results on 22 May 2013:

· Galloper offshore wind farm, a 50:50 joint venture between SSE and RWE npower renewables, has received development consent from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. The Galloper site is adjacent to the fully operational Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm, and will be taken forward with a capacity of up to 504MW;
· SSE has successfully launched a seven-year, €600m euro bond with a coupon of 2 per cent;
· SSE's subsidiary, Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution, has published a detailed business plan for the electricity distribution Price Control for 2015-23 that aims to deliver a 10% cut to the distribution network costs for customers in central southern England and the north of Scotland in 2015;
· SSE has completed the assessment of 98% of cases under its Sales Guarantee raised by around 16,000 of its customers since 3 April and, following assessments, made payments averaging around £75 to around 9,000 of those customers;
· Alistair Phillips-Davies has become Chief Executive, in succession to Ian Marchant;
· Sue Bruce, the Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, has been appointed a non-Executive Director of SSE with effect from 1 September;
· SSE has entered into a new £1.3bn Revolving Credit Facility provided by a group of ten banks. This facility - which was a self arranged deal - will run until July 2018 and replaces an existing £900m committed facility that had been due to mature in August 2015; and
· Ofgem has set out its 'minded to' position on the Needs case for the proposed reinforcement of the electricity transmission network around the Kintyre peninsula, designed to deliver around 260MW of capacity at an estimated cost of just over £200m and planned to be completed in 2016.

HSBC Neutral 1,555.00 1,546.00 1,505.00 1,630.00 Upgrades

Nice one ED!

At what price level will it stabilise ? Any views ?
I am hoping that it will stay above 1400 .

Changes to household energy tariffs from 15 Nov

Changes to household energy tariffs from 15 November

10 October 2013
· Household electricity and gas tariffs to increase by average of 8.2%
· Changes reflect increasing cost of buying wholesale energy, paying to deliver it to customers' homes and government-imposed levies collected through energy bills

SSE will implement a series of changes to its household energy tariffs on 15 November 2013. This follows increased costs of:

· buying energy in global markets (up 4% for a typical dual fuel customer*);
· paying to use the upgraded electricity and gas networks to deliver energy to customers (up 10%*); and
· government-imposed levies on energy bills (up 13%*).



More....

Results for six months

RIIO-ED1 FAST-TRACKING ANNOUNCEMENT

Friday 22 November 2013

OFGEM REQUIRES ELECTRICITY NETWORK COMPANIES TO DELIVER MORE FOR LESS

· Ofgem challenges 5 out of 6 electricity distribution companies to cut costs for consumers
· Western Power Distribution's (WPD) business plan provides good value for consumers and its price control could be agreed early*
· Ofgem price regulation will see distribution costs cut 11.6% (around £11.30) for the nearly 8 million households in WPD's areas from April 2015
· All companies responded well to Ofgem's RIIO price controls which have driven over £2bn in savings so far. Companies challenged to deliver further cost reductions

Just bought a few here at what was the 12 month low.

Future operation of thermal generation sites

SSE plc has decided to select the Limited Life Derogation (LLD) option under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) for its remaining capacity at its coal-fired power stations at Ferrybridge (North Yorkshire) and Uskmouth (South Wales). Under this 'opt-out' derogation, the plant (defined by the stack configuration) can run without fitting further abatement technology for a total of 17,500 hours or to the end of December 2023, whichever is the earlier.

The IED is due to come into effect from 1 January 2016 and imposes emission limits of SO2, NOx and particulates on all UK generation plant. In choosing how to respond to the Directive plant operators have a number of options, including the opportunity to identify plant to take a Limited Life Derogation (LLD). This option must be exercised by 1 January 2014.

Barclays Capital Overweight 1,355.00 1,349.00 1,200.00 1,810.00 Downgrades

On edit - the note has now been changed to "Underweight" !

Interim Management Statement

Tempted to pick up some of these myself, but if the markets are due to correct following QE tapering and the usual 'go away in may' adage, then might wait awhile. Think 1200p might be on the cards.
Divi yield is very attractive, though final divi not due until July.

I hope for all the pension pots that 1200 is not reached. But would not be surprised. Mainly due to petty points scoring children playing politics.

I would be buying at 1200!!!

Good point dl. I forgot about the political side of things. My case for 1200p has just been strengthened!

1370 first please!

1370 been and gone.

OFGEM PUBLISHES EQUITY MARKET RETURN GUIDANCE

17 February 2014

EQUITY MARKET RETURN CONSULTATION: REDUCING THE COST OF CAPITAL FOR ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES

· Changes to methodology put greater weight on current market evidence
· Proposed changes will lower assumed cost of equity to 6% resulting in an assumed cost of capital of 3.8% for five electricity distribution companies in 2015-16, with further falls projected in subsequent years
· Western Power Distribution, which was proposed for fast-tracking in November, will need to lower its assumed cost of equity and therefore its cost of capital if it is to remain in the fast- track process

Ofgem has today published guidance which will reduce the assumed cost of equity and cost of capital for electricity distribution companies.

The cost of equity is an important financial parameter. Changes to this affect the assumed cost of capital, which determines the return a company can earn on its investment during a price control. We are currently setting the electricity distribution companies' price controls for 2015 - 2023.

In November, we assessed the business plans from all six distribution companies. We sent five of these plans back as we considered that they could deliver more value for consumers. The companies will resubmit their plans in March. Today we are setting out our baseline assumption of 6% for their cost of equity, resulting in an estimated cost of capital at 3.8% for the first year of the price control, 2015-16. As these companies are yet to resubmit their plans, a decision cannot be finalised at this stage.

When we assessed the business plans, Western Power Distribution (WPD) was the only electricity distribution company deemed suitable to be considered for fast-tracking, as its plans demonstrated clear value for consumers. This meant that in November we consulted on accepting its plans subject to our consultation on calculating equity market returns. Today's decision means that to stay in the fast-track process, WPD will need to make an equivalent reduction in its assumed cost of equity to 6.4% resulting in an overall cost of capital estimated at 3.9% for 2015-16.

WPD now has to decide whether to accept these adjustments. If it does not, it will revert to the slow-track process and resubmit plans in March, along with the other five companies.

-Ends-

Slowly undoing Ed's 'work'.

Looking at that chart skinny, I think we should see 1460 before the next halt.

Lord Gnome - I agree, and PDQ at this rate.

skinny - 25 Sep 2013 14:22 - 162 of 179
Nice one ED!

Back to where Ed opened his mouth.

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,483.00 1,475.00 1,700.00 1,600.00 Reiterates

SSE Business Update

SSE plc will enter its close period on 31 March 2014, prior to the publication on Wednesday 21 May of its financial report for the year to 31 March 2014. This statement:

· details developments since SSE published its Interim Management Statement (IMS)
on 23 January;

· summarises SSE's expected financial results for the year to 31 March 2014, which
are forecast to be in line with the financial outlook in the IMS;

· as part of a value programme, announces a programme of planned asset and
business disposals that will secure proceeds and debt reduction estimated to total
around £1bn and simplify significantly the SSE group;

· also as part of a value programme, announces the identification of further operational efficiencies that will result in annual savings in overheads of around £100m by March 2016 but which will result in a reduction, compared with previous plans, of around 500 in the number of people employed by SSE in Great Britain;

· announces that there will be legal separation of the businesses within SSE's Retail
and Wholesale segments, planned to be completed by March 2015;

· announces that SSE will freeze at current levels its household energy prices in GB
until at least January 2016;

· sets out the conclusions of SSE's review of its offshore wind development portfolio, which will result in SSE narrowing significantly the focus of its near-term development plans to no more than 375MW of capacity in the Beatrice project;

· forecasts capital and investment expenditure by SSE of around £1.6bn in 2014/15 and then an average of up to £1.3bn (net of disposals) across the three years to March 2018;

· states that SSE expects adjusted earnings per share1 for 2014/15 to be around or
slightly greater than in 2013/14 but to be subject to greater risks in the following two
years; and

· states that SSE is targeting an increase in the full-year dividend for 2014/15 of at least RPI inflation2, with annual increases thereafter of at least RPI inflation2 also being targeted.



more....

Freezing Gas and Electricity prices until 2016. Good news for me as a customer.

You have to smile!

SSE price-freeze: Politicians rush to claim credit

The government and the Labour party have both claimed credit for a price freeze announced by UK energy supplier SSE.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband said the freeze was a result of their policies.

Energy suppliers could face first anti-trust probe

(Reuters) - Britain's energy suppliers could be on track for their biggest shake up since privatisation when regulators rule on Thursday whether the industry is competitive enough following a public outcry over high prices.

Three regulators will say whether the whole industry needs to be subjected to a full-blown anti-trust investigation which could result in some of the big gas and electricity suppliers being broken up.

A referral for a monopoly review is widely expected.

more...

27 March 2014

PROPOSED GB ENERGY MARKET REFERENCE

SSE believes that the energy market in Great Britain is competitive, has brought significant benefits for customers, and that much has been done in recent years to make it more transparent and easier to understand, ranging from greater liquidity in the wholesale electricity market to simplification of tariffs in the retail markets. In addition, there has been significant investment in energy infrastructure - SSE alone has invested over GBP7bn in the last five years.

Nevertheless, many of the key features of the energy market have become politically contentious and been subject to significant change designed to achieve a mixture of objectives. Ofgem states this morning that it believes a referral offers the opportunity 'once and for all' to clear the air. SSE has demonstrated consistently its appetite for reform that is in the interests of customers and during the forthcoming consultation will argue constructively that a market reference should provide a platform for achieving greater political and regulatory stability for the GB energy market, for the benefit of customers and the investment in the country's energy system that they need.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive of SSE, said:

'Regulators, politicians, customers and SSE all want the same thing: an energy market that not only works for customers, but is also trusted and seen to do so.

We welcome any efforts to clear the air, and in the meantime SSE will continue with its positive agenda for customers including its price freeze until at least, 2016.'

This information is provided by RNS

Invesco Limited < 5%

Preliminary Results

The key financial results for the year to 31 March 2014 are in line with the expectations set out in the Notification of Close Period published on 26 March 2014 (comparisons with the previous year, unless otherwise stated):

· Adjusted earnings per share* rose by 4.1% to 123.4 pence;
· Adjusted profit before tax* rose by 9.6% to £1,551.1m;
· Reported profit before tax rose by 0.7% to £575.3m;
· Investment and capital expenditure increased by 6.5% to £1.583bn;
· Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital rose by £311.5m to £7.659bn; and
· Full-year dividend increased by 3.0% to 86.7 pence per share.

*Adjusted profit before tax describes profit before tax before exceptional items (£747.2m), re-measurements arising from IAS 39 (£212.0m) and after the removal of taxation on profits from jointly-controlled entities and associates (£11.6m). Following the adoption of IAS 19R, adjusted profit before tax is stated excluding interest costs on net pension scheme liabilities (£28.2m).

Finance - business-by-business operating profit
For the year to 31 March 2014 (comparisons with the previous year, unless otherwise stated); operating profit is before payment of interest and tax:

Networks - operating profit of £955.4m, up 9.3%
· Electricity Transmission operating profit rose by 47.6% to £136.7m, reflecting the major increase in investment in the asset base since 2010, resulting in higher income;
· Electricity Distribution operating profit decreased by 0.9% to £ 507.0m, reflecting the level and timing of revenue received and storm-related costs;
· SSE's share of Scotia Gas Networks' operating profit rose by 18.2% to £276.6m, reflecting efficiencies achieved and a positive start to the new Price Control that began in April 2013; and
· Other Networks operating profit fell by 2.2% to £35.1m.

Retail - operating profit of £292.0m, down 28.6%
· Energy Supply operating profit fell by 32.2% to £246.2m, reflecting lower use of energy by customers and higher costs including the cost of gas; and
· Energy-related Services operating profit fell by £0.1m to £45.8m.

Wholesale - operating profit of £634.6m, up 24.8%
· Energy Portfolio Management and Electricity Generation operating profit rose by 10.1% to £496.1m, largely reflecting increased output of energy from renewable sources;
· Gas Production operating profit rose from £39.6m to £130.2m, reflecting output from the increased asset base resulting from acquisitions, in particular the purchase of a 50% interest in the Sean gas production assets in April 2013; and
· Gas Storage operating profit fell by 54.9% to £8.3m; this business continues to be affected by the fact there are smaller seasonal differentials in gas prices.

Operations - providing the energy people need
In the year to 31 March 2014 (comparisons in brackets with the previous year, unless otherwise stated):

· Safety: SSE's Total Recordable Injury Rate was 0.12 per 100,000 hours worked (0.14);
· Networks: the number of Customer Minutes Lost in the Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution area was 77 (73); in the Southern Electric Power Distribution area it was 67 (65);
· Networks: SSE restored electricity supplies to customers following a record eight exceptional winter weather events affecting the Scottish Hydro Electric and Southern Electric Power Distribution areas;
· Retail: SSE's number of electricity and gas customer accounts in markets in Great Britain and Ireland fell from 9.47 million to 9.10 million;
· Retail: average consumption of electricity by SSE's household customers in Great Britain was estimated to be 3,991kWh (4,299kWh); average consumption of gas by SSE's household customers in Great Britain was estimated to be 465 therms (544 therms).
· Wholesale: total electricity output* from gas and oil fired power stations was 10.1TWh (8.7TWh); from coal-fired power stations output was 16.6TWh (20.6TWh); and
· Wholesale: total electricity output* from renewable sources (conventional and pumped storage hydro electric schemes, onshore and offshore wind farms and dedicated biomass plant) was 9.4TWh (7.6TWh), reflecting additional capacity in operation, including at Greater Gabbard, and wetter and windier weather conditions.

* Output from electricity generating plant in which SSE has an ownership interest (output based on SSE's contractual share).

Investment - maintaining, upgrading and building energy assets customers need
In the year to 31 March 2014, SSE's capital and investment expenditure totalled £1,582.5m, compared with £1,485.5m in the previous year:

· Networks: Investment in electricity networks totalled £657.5m. SSE's subsidiary Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission has made significant progress in its section of the Beauly-Denny replacement line, with almost all of the foundations laid, three quarters of the 539 towers erected and over half of the route wired.
· Retail: Investment in retail totalled £99.9m. SSE has continued to make significant investment in new systems to deliver enhanced services to customers and support the installation of smart meters in the years to 2020.
· Wholesale: Investment in electricity generation totalled £616.5m. Work is progressing well at SSE's 460MW CCGT development at Great Island in the South-East of Ireland, which is expected to be commissioned later this year.

Capital and investment in the Wholesale segment included expenditure totalling £51.5m in: Gas Production (£40.9m); and Gas Storage (£10.6m). Separately, SSE acquired a 50% stake in the Sean gas production assets for £127.6m (including working capital).

SSE's capital investment and expenditure for 2014/15 is currently forecast to total around £1.6bn and then average up to £1.3bn (net of asset/business disposals) in the years to and including 2017/18.

Undertaking a value programme to ensure SSE is well-positioned for the future
On 26 March 2014, SSE announced a value programme with two important features to help ensure it is well-positioned for the period to 2020 and beyond:

· disposing of assets and businesses which are not core to its future plans or result in a disproportionate financial burden or present opportunities to release capital to support future investment; and
· securing annual savings in overheads that will total, in the first instance, around £100m by the end of 2015/16.

The value programme is under way, and the financial outlook which it supports remains the same as set out in March.

Financial outlook
SSE uses adjusted earnings per share* to monitor financial performance over the medium term because it defines the amount of profit after tax that has been earned for each Ordinary share. It currently expects adjusted earnings per share* in 2014/15 to be around or slightly greater than that in 2013/14. In view of the wider energy sector conditions, however, SSE continues to recognise that its ability to deliver increases in adjusted earnings per share* is subject to greater risk in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

Shareholders have either invested directly in SSE or, as owners of the company, enabled it to borrow money from debt investors to finance investment in maintaining, upgrading and building energy assets that customers depend on. SSE aims to give them a return on their investment through the payment of dividends. As stated in March 2014, SSE's objective for 2014/15 and subsequent years is to deliver a full-year dividend increase of at least RPI inflation.

Working to fulfil SSE's core purpose
SSE has today (21 May) submitted and published (see sse.com) its response to Ofgem's consultation on the proposal to make a market investigation reference to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in respect of the supply and acquisition of energy in Great Britain. In the event of a CMA referral, while the CMA is doing its work, SSE will continue to work with customers, politicians, regulators, investors and other stakeholders to help achieve greater political and regulatory stability for the GB energy market, for the benefit of customers and the investment in the country's energy system that they need.

It will do this while making a significant contribution to the economy in the UK and Ireland. An independent study by PwC released on 19 May and available on sse.com found that in the year to March 2013, SSE contributed £9.1bn to the UK GDP in 2012/13 and supported 112,000 jobs. These are significant economic impacts, and important to the UK economy as a whole. Also important to the UK economy is fairness in employment, and it is for this reason that SSE became, in September 2013, the first energy company and, at that time, the largest UK-listed company by market capitalisation, to become an accredited Living Wage employer. SSE's employees are committed to fulfilling the company's core purpose, which is to provide the energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way.

Ex-divi 23rd July 2014 (60.70p).

30-May-14 RBC Capital Markets Underperform 1,556.00p 1,220.00p 1,220.00p Reiteration
23-May-14 Goldman Sachs Sell 1,545.00p 1,355.00p 1,355.00p Reiteration
22-May-14 Deutsche Hold 1,542.00p 1,340.00p 1,340.00p Reiteration
22-May-14 Exane BNP Paribas Neutral 1,542.00p 1,420.00p 1,420.00p Reiteration
14-May-14 Citigroup Sell 1,536.00p 1,270.00p 1,270.00p Reiteration
09-May-14 Deutsche Hold 1,511.00p 1,360.00p 1,340.00p Reiteration

Slightly worryingly all broker targets are well below the current sp.
Nice divi to come and sp crawls it's way up, but............not sure my tenuous target of 1630p is realistic.

on my watch list also harry.,.

I've been in these (this time) since December 5th and the brokers have consistently had a downer on them - as long as the price keeps edging up - I'm happy.

Any thoughts on the chart? 1580p seems to be a major hurdle historically and sp seems reluctant to push through yet again!

It does look like make your mind up time!

Another look @1580.

And again today.

I just know if I sell at 1580p the bl**dy sp will soar like a ten bob rocket! The divi is still tempting me to hold on though.

Possibly another attempt @1580p today.

Another failed attempt!!

What do you reckon skinny? Maybe best to take some profit and try again from a lower entry point. At least it is profit along the way, though only going to cover a couple of nights in the pub!

Harry - my current holding is from December 5th last year @1310 - near the bottom as it turned out.

A good points gain but unfortunately only 1000 shares.

I'm going to hold to see if £16 can be reached short term - most brokers still seem to have a downer on them though.

Long note out today from Investec, but the summary is:
"We upgrade SSE to Buy and downgrade Centrica to Sell. Drax remains a Buy. Our overall positive case for SSE and Drax relates to a tightening UK electricity generating market, and clearer overall strategy."

These are the ones I don't like, also from today.

Citigroup Sell 1,568.00 1,270.00 1,270.00 Reiterates

Knock three times? Next time we'll be through.

Could be another attempt coming.

1583p......we seem to be on the move again!

Yep!

£16 beckons.

Goldman Sachs Sell 1,583.00 1,583.00 1,355.00 1,415.00 Reiterates

All brokers getting this wrong atm.
Don't forget "Ex-divi 23rd July 2014 (60.70p)."

Yep and there is £16.

Investec Buy 1,565.50 1,568.00 - 1,680.00 Reiterates

Another assault on 1580p.

I assume it's going to fall off a cliff when it goes ex-divi? Still holding, but would take profit around 1625p.......I wish!

Yes - I wish I'd taken the £16 last week as I'd said I would!!

Tempted!

Trend is still up, but it's all a bit frustrating!!!

OFGEM GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO NEW £1.2 BILLION SCOTTISH SUBSEA LINK AND TRANSMISSION CHARGING REFORM

· Ofgem approves need for new link between Caithness and Moray
· New link will bring 1.2GW of renewable energy to Britain's electricity network
· Ofgem approves new transmission charging methodology, effective from April 2016
· Actions will contribute to an energy system that is fit for purpose for future consumers

Are you still holding skinny? It's all a bit tortuous......

Harry - I am and just debating whether to dump my remaining IAG and add here for the dividend.

Trading Statement & AGM next Thursday 17th.

Interim Management Statement

The retail side of the business seems to have been a little below expectations. Market unimpressed.

SSE AND UKPN PAY OUT £8 MILLION FOLLOWING STORMS

SSE AND UKPN PAY OUT £8 MILLION FOLLOWING CHRISTMAS STORMS

· Ofgem secures an additional £3.3 million following its investigation into how SSE and UKPN handled last winter's storms
· The firms have already paid customers £4.7 million and committed to improvements
· Ofgem will more than double minimum payments to those affected by severe weather incidents in future and has put the industry on notice that it must learn from the lessons of last winter


more...

Shame about the drop before the ex-divi date. This has a bit of recovering to do before I am back into profit.

OFGEM ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION PROPOSALS

OFGEM ANNOUNCES £17 BILLION FOR ELECTRICITY NETWORK AND CUTS BILLS FOR CUSTOMERS

· Electricity distribution part of bill to fall by £12 on average from April 2015 while customer service standards rise
· £2.1 billion of savings achieved since Ofgem sent back companies' initial business plans last year
· Ofgem continues to deliver a stable regulatory environment that secures investment in Britain's vital infrastructure at a fair price to consumers.

more....

Initial Response to the RIIO-ED1

Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution (SSEPD), part of SSE plc, notes the publication of the draft determination by Ofgem on its RIIO-ED1 business plan for the period 2015 to 2023. SSEPD is disappointed with a number of elements within the draft determination including Ofgem's proposal on efficient financing and their assumptions about the scope of further cost reductions across the industry.

Over the coming weeks SSEPD will be reviewing Ofgem's benchmarking analysis and also their assumptions on how SSEPD, one of the leading cost efficient operators in Great Britain, could operate and develop our networks to the standard customers expect with the proposed reduction in total expenditure.

Gregor Alexander, Finance Director of SSE, said:

"Our aim is to deliver a final settlement that both provides value for money for customers as well as securing the funding required to operate and develop our distribution networks for customers benefit. Through the established price control process, we will now be responding to the draft determination as well as engaging further with Ofgem in order to secure this outcome."

Seems that the directors putting their hands in their pockets and buying 8 or 9 shares each has helped the sp turn around! ;o) 1600p here we come!

Hmmm - we can but hope Harry.

RESPONSE TO CMA STATEMENT OF ISSUES

Up we go again!

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,494.50 1,482.00 1,600.00 1,600.00 Reiterates

Nice to see that they support my 1600p target!

This lot seem 'brave' :-)

RBC Capital Markets Sector Performer 1,494.50 1,482.00 - 1,500.00 Upgrades

From the HL morning roundup :-

Energy bills in the east Midlands and other densely populated areas could rise by up to £37 a year to reduce the cost to households of distributing energy in remote parts of the country under proposals put forward by SSE. The energy group argues that imposing one national charge for delivering electricity and gas to the home would make bills much simpler to understand than the current system, where suppliers levy 14 regional charges. - The Times

Berenberg Hold 1,493.00 1,493.00 1,320.00 1,530.00 Retains

ugh! Down again!!

I wonder why!

Cazenove comment on that subject:
"SSE is the most exposed in our sector to a potential vote for Scottish independence, with an estimated 38% of EBIT coming from Scotland. We’d expect a prolonged period of regulatory uncertainty following a Yes vote and given the potential earnings risks and the long lead time to clarity, we think that a 10% P/E de-rating would not be unreasonable in this environment, based on the experience of Continental utilities during past times of regulatory/political uncertainty. If we assume that changes in Scottish energy policy eventually lead to a 30% cut in ROC prices for Scottish renewables and a 50bps cut in network returns, this would mean a c5% hit to EPS and a reduction in dividend cover from the current 1.3x* to c1.2x. Clearly this is just one scenario and the actual outcome could be less or could be twice as much or more. In addition this sensitivity is before any macro impacts such as currency, tax or credit rating (and hence cost of debt), which would be unhelpful given SSE’s already stretched balance sheet at 3.5x ND/EBITDA*. We also think that a Yes vote would weigh on the valuation of the non-Scottish UK assets of utilities due to both macro and energy-specific uncertainty."

RBC Capital Markets Sector Performer 1,471.50 1,445.00 1,500.00 1,580.00 Reiterates

JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight 1,465.00 1,485.00 1,200.00 1,280.00 Reiterates

Am expecting great things here when the 'No' vote comes in!

This lot are obviously expecting a 'yes' vote.

Deutsche Bank Hold 1,515.50 1,340.00 1,340.00 Reiterates

As posted before, I think (hope) a no vote will see the FTSE all time high of 6,950.60 being taken out PDQ.

Better......a bit more to go though before I am happy!

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,538.50 1,521.00 1,600.00 1,600.00 Reiterates

RBC Capital Markets Sector Performer 1,538.50 1,521.00 1,580.00 1,580.00 Reiterates

Nearly there.........

Disposal of Hampshire data centre

SSE plc today (1 October) agreed the sale of its Hampshire data centre to SCC, for a total consideration estimated to be £12 million, subject to capital adjustment and provision of transition services for a period of three months.

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,514.50 1,514.00 1,600.00 1,600.00 Reiterates

Another try for 1600p coming up? All a bit frustrating, though trend seems to be in the right direction now.

OFGEM SETS OUT FUNDING PLANS FOR £1 BILLION TRANSMISSION SUBSEA LINK

Ofgem has today set out proposals to allow £1.1 billion funding for a new subsea link in the north of Scotland. The regulator's proposal is £173.9 million less than the funding request from Scottish Hydro Electricity Transmission (SHE Transmission) to ensure consumers pay no more than necessary.

The new link will connect 1.2GW of new renewable electricity generation following completion in 2018. This additional capacity will increase the resilience of Britain's energy infrastructure. It will connect the electricity grid on either side of the Moray Firth.

The proposals are now under consultation for four weeks. Final decision on funding will be made in December.

Half Year Results Wednesday 12 November 2014.

This time last year is difficult to compare but the sp was generally falling off a cliff. The Nov figures weren't that great (·Adjusted profit before tax* fell by 11.7% to £354.0m; Adjusted earnings per share* fell by 17.4% to 29.4 pence.). Will be interesting to see what happens but think I may bail out with a small profit before the figures are released.

I'm undecided - but still hoping for another assault on £16 (NG having another bash @£9 today).

The most recent broker notes :-

24 Oct RBS Capital Markets Sector Performer 1,551.50 1,580.00 1,580.00 Reiterates

24 Oct Credit Suisse Outperform 1,551.50 1,600.00 1,600.00 Reiterates

Approaching make your mind up time!

I had an auto sell command on the system at 1571p, which seems to have triggered so am out for now with a little profit and the last divi.

EDIT: Far too early, though last time I tried to sell, it didn't reach my target price!

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,562.00 1,562.00 1,600.00 1,700.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 1,562.00 1,562.00 1,340.00 1,340.00 Reiterates

Half Yearly Report

For the six months to 30 September 2014 (comparisons with the same six months in 2013, unless otherwise stated):

· Adjusted earnings per share* rose by 5.8% to 31.1 pence;
· Adjusted profit before tax* rose by 4.6% to £370.3m;
· Reported profit before tax fell by 6.2% to £316.6m;
· Investment and capital expenditure fell by 15.5% to £679.3m;
· Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital rose by £185.6m to £7,907m; and
· Interim dividend increased by 2.3% to 26.6 pence per share.

*Adjusted profit before tax describes profit before tax before exceptional items and re-measurements arising from IAS 39, excluding interest costs on net pension scheme liabilities and after the removal of taxation on profits from joint ventures and associates
In addition, on 15 October 2014, Standard and Poor's affirmed SSE's 'A-/A-2' ratings and improved the rating outlook from negative to stable.

Finance - business-by-business operating profit
For the six months to 30 September 2014 (comparisons with the same period in 2013, unless otherwise stated); operating profit is before payment of interest and tax:

Wholesale - operating profit of £26.7m, down 83.4%

· Energy Portfolio Management and Electricity Generation operating profit fell by 86.3% to £11.8m, reflecting lower output of electricity from renewable and thermal sources;
· Gas Production operating profit fell by 80.7% to £13.3m, reflecting lower day ahead prices achieved for gas produced over the summer; and
· Gas Storage operating profit fell by 69.2% to £1.6m; this business continues to be affected by smaller seasonal differentials in gas prices.

Networks - operating profit of £ 458.4m, up 4.7%

· Electricity Transmission operating profit rose by 46.3% to £98.9m, reflecting the continuing major investment in the asset base, resulting in higher income;
· Electricity Distribution operating profit fell by 7.0% to £215.7m, reflecting the lower number of electricity units distributed, the adjustment for last year's over-recovery of £25m of revenue and additional costs incurred; and
· Gas Distribution - SSE's share of Scotia Gas Networks' operating profit rose by 4.1% to £143.8m, reflecting progress in delivering innovation and efficiencies as well as the timing of revenue collection.

Retail - operating profit of £37.3m, compared with an operating loss of £71.4m#

· Energy Supply recorded an operating loss of £16.9m, which was smaller than the loss in 2013 due to a number of factors including lower energy purchasing costs, but which were partly offset by the impact of milder weather;
· Energy-related Services operating profit fell by 30.2% to £11.3m, reflecting mixed performance within these businesses; and
· Enterprise operating profit rose by 54.3% to £42.9m, largely reflecting a £15.3m profit on a disposal in the period.

#Operating profit for same period in 2013 restated in line with establishment of the Enterprise division, and as set out in the Notification of Close Period on 29 September 2014 and at Note 4 of the Condensed Interim Statements.


more....

Disposal

£326.4m DISPOSAL OF STREETLIGHTING PROJECTS

SSE has completed the sale, to Equitix Infrastructure 3 Limited (Equitix), of its 100% equity interest in the special purpose entities (SPEs) established in England under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), for the delivery of seven street lighting projects.

The SPEs are funded through a mix of senior debt and equity, and the removal of this project-related senior debt, along with the cash consideration of £97.5m, will have the immediate effect of reducing SSE's net debt by £326.4m.

The project SPEs have a 25 year agreement with their respective local authorities, under which they have the responsibility for the replacement, operation and maintenance of the street lighting assets of that local authority. Those operational responsibilities are being, and will continue to be, carried out by SSE Contracting Limited under a parallel 25-year sub-contract with the Equitix-owned SPEs.

SSE's remaining street lighting asset portfolio, which comprises equity interests in four further PFI projects, will be made available for purchase in the next few months.

Gregor Alexander, Finance Director of SSE, said:

"I believe this is a good deal for Equitix, SSE and the local authorities concerned. For SSE, I
am pleased that this important milestone in our value programme has been reached and that SSE Contracting Limited will have the opportunity to play to its strengths by providing the operational services that Equitix and the local authorities need for remainder of the life of the PFI contracts."

APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY CHAIRMAN

Morgan Stanley Overweight 1,534.00 - - Reiterates

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,534.00 1,700.00 1,700.00 Reiterates

Liberum Capital Hold 1,534.00 - 1,530.00 Reiterates

Citigroup Sell 1,534.00 - 1,390.00 Reiterates

Are you still holding skinny? Your 1600p level seems quite elusive.

Yes I am Harry and have been thinking similar today!

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,541.00 1,700.00 1,700.00 Reiterates

Exane BNP Paribas Outperform 1,541.00 1,700.00 1,700.00 Retains

JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight 1,541.00 1,280.00 1,280.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 1,541.00 1,340.00 1,340.00 Reiterates

Hmmm

OFGEM ANNOUNCES £17 BILLION NEW INVESTMENT PACKAGE

· £17 billion to renew, maintain the electricity network and connect small-scale renewable generation
· £2.1 billion of savings achieved since Ofgem sent back companies' initial business plans last year
· Ofgem expects companies to meet tough targets on further improving reliability, customer service, connections, and their work with vulnerable consumers
· Electricity distribution part of bill to fall by an average of £11 over next eight years

Ofgem has today set out plans for five out of the six companies that run Britain's local electricity network.

This decision will see the companies spend around £17 billion to renew, maintain the electricity network and connect small-scale renewable generation. Taken together with Western Power Distribution which had its price controls agreed early, the total spend on Britain's local electricity network over the next eight years will be £24 billion.

There have been minimal changes since July's draft decision and today's announcement represents a reduction of £2.1 billion since Ofgem sent back initial business plans last November.

Ofgem has set challenging targets for all companies to continue improving reliability, speed up new connections to the network and increase their work with vulnerable consumers. In addition, from the start of these price controls in April 2015, payments for customers who experience prolonged power cuts will increase, and more than double from £27 to £70 for those without power during severe weather.

Ofgem expects companies to realise around £900 million of benefits to consumers over the period as a result of Ofgem's innovation stimulus, the Low Carbon Network Fund is running from 2010-2015. This has helped companies adapt the network to make it work better, and cope with the expected increase in small-scale generation, such as the use of solar panels.

The work these companies do accounts for around £100 of your annual electricity bill. Our announcement today will see this part of the bill deliver an average annual saving of £11*. Including Western Power Distribution, which had its controls agreed early, the average bill will be £10 a year lower than it is today for the eight-year period of the control.

Dermot Nolan, chief executive at Ofgem, said: "Today's plans represent good value for consumers. There will be significant investment in Britain's electricity network, and reduced pressure on bills. Ofgem expects network companies to step up and take a more visible and active role in helping customers, particularly the most vulnerable."

Just sold some @1657.

ANyone know why the sudden increase?

Bought back @1634p

OFGEM SECURES £1.75M FROM SSE

OFGEM CONFIRMS FUNDING FOR £1 BILLION TRANSMISSION SUBSEA LINK

Ofgem has today approved £1.1 billion funding for a new subsea link in the north of Scotland. The regulator's decision is £105 million less than the funding request from Scottish Hydro Electricity Transmission (SHE Transmission) to ensure consumers pay no more than necessary.

The new link will connect 1.2GW of new renewable electricity generation following completion in 2018. This additional capacity will increase the resilience of Britain's energy infrastructure. It will connect the electricity grid on either side of the Moray Firth.

Provisional Result of the Capacity Auction


ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION PRICE CONTROL REVIEW

Ex-dividend date 22 January 2015

Q3 Interim Management Statement 12 February 2015

I see Millibean has worked his magic on our share price again.

Hmmmm - MORE COMPETITION IN ELECTRICITY CONNECTIONS MARKET IS NEEDED, SAYS OFGEM

· Competition developing too slowly in market for new electricity grid connections
· Ofgem's reforms look to increase competition and reduce hassle for customers connecting to the electricity grid
· Ofgem launches an investigation to see whether SSE put its competitors at a disadvantage in the electricity connections market

more.....

Ex dividend tomorrow.

Trading Statement

SSE plc completed the third quarter of its financial year on 31 December 2014.
This trading statement:

· includes information about SSE's operational and investment activities for the nine months to 31 December 2014;
· confirms SSE's expected financial results for the year to 31 March 2015, which are forecast to be in line with the financial outlook given in the interim results statement;
· confirms that SSE still expects to report an increase in the full-year dividend for 2014/15 that will at least be equal to RPI inflation;
· confirms that SSE is targeting an increase in the full-year dividend for 2015/16 of at least RPI inflation, with annual increases thereafter of at least RPI inflation also being targeted;
· details key developments since SSE published its interim results on 12 November;
· announces that SSE will reduce household gas prices in Great Britain by 4.1% on 30 April and then extend its household gas and electricity price guarantee to at least July 2016; and
· includes an update on SSE's value programme of operational efficiency and asset disposals.

Best yields in utilities sector

Investec Buy 1,537.50 1,543.00 1,725.00 1,725.00 Reiterates

Credit Suisse Outperform 1,537.50 1,543.00 1,700.00 1,700.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 1,537.50 1,543.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 Reiterates

Norges Bank > 4%

Defensive, but no dullard

NOTIFICATION OF CLOSE PERIOD

SSE plc will enter its close period on 31 March 2015, prior to the publication on Wednesday 20 May of its financial report for the year to 31 March 2015.

Developments since publication of IMS
Since the publication of its trading statement on 26 January 2015, SSE has:
· successfully launched an issue of hybrid capital securities comprising £750m and €600m with an all-in funding cost to SSE of 4.02% per annum;
· confirmed a reduction in interim dividend cash funding of £81.6m as a result of the Scrip alternative;
· responded to the decision by other parties to seek permission from the CMA to appeal the decision of GEMA with regard to the electricity distribution price control for 2015-23;
· confirmed that Deputy Chairman Richard Gillingwater will take up his previously-announced appointment as Chairman on the completion of the Company's AGM in July, subject to being re-elected to the Board;
· been awarded a National Grid contract to provide voltage support from Peterhead Power Station for 18 months from 1 April 2016 with a baseline value of £15m; and
· announced the sale of Langhope Rig, a 16MW wind farm nearing construction completion in the Scottish Borders, as part of its disposal programme of onshore windfarm assets.

Financial outlook
As set out in its trading statement, SSE expects that it will deliver for 2014/15:
· an increase in the full-year dividend that is at least equal to RPI inflation1, expected to be around 2% ; and
· adjusted earnings per share1 that will be around the level achieved in 2013/14.
1 As defined in SSE's interim results statement in November 2014.

more....

Citigroup remains at sell on SSE, target raised to 1,455p from 1,390p.

Preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2015

Finance - SSE Group
The key financial results for the year to 31 March 2015 are in line with expectations set out in the Notification of Close Period published on the 26 March 2015 (comparisons with the previous year, unless otherwise stated):

· Adjusted earnings per share* increased by 0.6% to 124.1 pence;
· Adjusted profit before tax* increased by 0.9% to £1,564.7m;
· Reported profit before tax increased by 24.1% to £735.2m;
· Investment and capital expenditure fell by 6.8% to £1,475.3m;
· Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital decreased by £74.7m to £7,568.1m;
· Full-year dividend increased by 2% to 88.4 pence per share; and
· Dividend covered 1.40 times by adjusted earnings per share.

REVIEW OF COAL-FIRED GENERATION ASSETS

SSE plc has completed the assessment of the longevity of its remaining coal-fired generation capacity that it announced in March 2015 and concluded that it should:

· close all of the remaining capacity (1,014MW) at Ferrybridge, Yorkshire by 31 March 2016; and
· enter all of the remaining capacity (1,995MW) at Fiddler's Ferry, Lancashire into the auction for electricity generation capacity at the end of 2015 (for delivery in 2019/20).

The outcome of the review is consistent with SSE's long-standing objective to transition its generation assets from a portfolio weighted towards gas and coal towards a portfolio more weighted towards gas and renewable sources of energy; and with the wider commitment to operational and financial discipline set out in March 2014.

more....

Exane BNP Paribas Outperform 1,610.00 1,610.00 1,750.00 1,800.00 Retains

Ex-divi 23rd July (61.8p)

CMA ENERGY MARKET INVESTIGATION - PROVISIONAL FINDINGS AND NOTICE OF POSSIBLE REMEDIES

SSE plc notes today's publication by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of its Provisional Findings and Notice of Possible Remedies in its GB energy market investigation. The CMA is now consulting on today's publications and SSE will submit comprehensive responses in the coming weeks.

Since a market investigation was first proposed in March 2014, SSE has argued that energy markets in Great Britain are generally well-functioning and competitive; while recognising the benefits of reforms that are in the interests of customers, and its responses to today's publications will be consistent with this view.

Following a number of stages of extensive consultation with the industry, Government and other stakeholders, the CMA is expected to publish its Final Report by the end of this year.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE's Chief Executive, said:

"SSE has consistently maintained that whilst customers already benefit from healthy market competition, there is always room for improvement. We will now examine today's publications in detail, along with the analysis that underpins them. We will also continue to work constructively with the CMA as this process continues to help ensure that the opportunity presented by this investigation is fully grasped, and that the final result is an enduring outcome that gives customers confidence, allows regulators to regulate, and encourages investors to invest in the Great Britain energy market."

Energy customers 'paying too much'

UK Government Scraps Climate Change Levy, Reiterates North Sea Support

TRADING STATEMENT

SSE plc completed the first quarter of its financial year on 30 June 2015 and its Annual General Meeting is taking place today (23 July) in Perth. This trading statement:

· summarises operational performance in SSE's Wholesale, Networks and Retail (including Enterprise) businesses;
· sets out progress made in SSE's plans to invest around £1.75bn (gross) in the UK and Ireland in 2015/16;
· details developments since SSE announced its results for 2014/15 on 20 May 2015 while confirming its financial outlook;
· confirms that SSE is continuing to target adjusted earnings per share of at least 115 pence for 2015/16; and
· confirms that SSE is continuing to target an increase in the full-year dividend for 2015/16 of at least RPI inflation, with annual increases thereafter of at least RPI inflation also being targeted.

more....

SSE PLC GAS ASSETS ACQUISITION

SSE plc, through its wholly-owned subsidiary SSE E&P UK Limited, has entered into an agreement with Total E&P UK Limited to acquire: a 20% interest in the four gas fields and surrounding exploration acreage approximately 125km north west of the Shetland Islands, collectively known as the Greater Laggan Area; and a 20% interest in the new Shetland Gas Plant.

Following completion of the acquisition later in this financial year, Total E&P UK Limited will continue as operator of, and will own a 60% stake in, these assets. The remaining 20% is owned by DONG Energy.

The value of the transaction will comprise consideration of £565m for the assets (which reflects their value based on an effective economic date of 1 January 2015, including associated UK capital allowances) plus additional forecast investment of £350m in the period to 2018 to complete the entire development.


more....

NOTIFICATION OF CLOSE PERIOD

SSE plc will enter its close period on Thursday 1 October 2015, prior to the publication on Wednesday 11 November of its financial results for the six months to 30 September 2015.

Since the publication of its trading statement on 23 July 2015, SSE has:

· entered into an agreement with Total E&P UK Limited to acquire a 20% interest in four gas fields and surrounding exploration acreage in the Greater Laggan area and a 20% interest in the new Shetland Gas Plant;
· noted that the way is now clear for the 'Project TransmiT' reforms to Transmission Network Use of System charges to proceed from 1 April 2016;
· given notice, as issuer, that €500m of hybrid capital securities and £750m of hybrid capital securities will be redeemed in full on 1 October 2015;
· decided to build on its position as the best-performing of the 10 largest energy suppliers in responding to complaints by committing to resolve complaints within four weeks or advise customers of their right to contact Ombudsman Service: Energy - which is twice as fast as the industry standard of eight weeks;
· confirmed that 28,854 shareholders (26%) elected to receive their final dividend for the year to 31 March 2015 in the form of Scrip dividend, resulting in a reduction in final dividend cash funding of £159.5m;
· in line with the value programme set out in March 2014, invited non-binding bids for minority stakes in a number of wind farm developments;
· issued an eight-year/€700m euro bond, maturing in September 2023, with a coupon of 1.75% and an all-in funding cost when converted back to sterling of 3.19%;
· reached a landmark in its managed roll-out of smart meters across Great Britain with the installation of its 100,000th meter;
· been named by Citizens Advice in its quarterly Energy Supplier Performance report as the best performing of the largest 18 energy suppliers in Great Britain, with almost 20 times fewer complaints than the worst performing supplier;
· been advised that 5,720MW of capacity it submitted has so far pre-qualified for the capacity market auction later this year; and remains in discussions with the EMR Delivery Body with the objective of successfully pre-qualifying a further 427MW of capacity; and
· noted the CMA's final determination in respect of the RIIO-ED1 price control appeals. As relevant distribution network licence holders, both of SSE's distribution networks were named in the appeals. The result of the appeals will reduce the networks' combined average annual revenue by £2m.

Financial outlook
SSE focuses on results for the financial year as a whole because results for six month periods are more variable and more subject to the impact of shorter-term issues. In the previous financial year, SSE earned around one quarter of its full-year adjusted profit before tax in the first six months; in 2015/16 it is more likely to have earned over one third of its full-year adjusted profit before tax in the first six months. In the first half of 2014/15, operating profit in Wholesale was exceptionally low and Energy Supply reported an operating loss; in 2015/16 there has been high output of renewable energy, benefiting Wholesale, and relatively good performance in Energy Supply. SSE continues to manage a wide range of issues across its Wholesale and Retail businesses and, therefore, relatively good performance in these segments in the first six months does not change its outlook for the financial year as a whole.

SSE uses adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to monitor financial performance over the medium term because it defines the amount of profit after tax that has been earned for each ordinary share. As it has previously acknowledged, the nature of energy provision means that financial results in any single year are always subject to well-known uncertainties; nevertheless, SSE is continuing to target adjusted earnings per share for 2015/16 of at least 115 pence.

SSE is on course to achieve its principal financial objective for 2015/16, which is to deliver an increase in the full-year dividend that will be at least equal to RPI inflation. It continues to recognise that its dividend cover, based on dividend increases that at least keep pace with RPI inflation, could range from around 1.2 times to around 1.4 times over the three years to 2017/18. SSE continues to believe that a long-term target for dividend cover of a range around 1.5 times, also based on dividend increases which at least keep pace with inflation, is the right one to aim for.

Gregor Alexander, Finance Director, SSE, said:
"We are satisfied with the start we have made to the financial year, and are pleased to have made good progress in both the investment programme and the operational performance in each of the businesses. The priority now is to make sure that the business performs well throughout the autumn and winter, focusing on meeting the needs of Networks, Retail and Enterprise customers in particular, while achieving our key financial goals."

SSE says reported H1 pretax profit down 27.1%

StockMarketWire.com

SSE said its reported H1 pretax profit fell 27.1% to GBP230.8m, from GBP316.6m. Revenue was GBP13.83bn, from GBP12.41bn. Interim dividend was hiked by 1.1% to 26.9p.

Chairman Richard Gillingwater said:

"In the first half of this financial year SSE expected to deal with a number of challenging issues, such as the outcome of the UK Government's legislative programme and investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority.

"SSE has always acknowledged that there is uncertainty associated with these developments. The road ahead is becoming clearer, however, and there are grounds for cautious optimism that a stable long-term framework can be achieved.

"There should always be a degree of caution about half-year results, yet SSE has made a solid start to the 2015/16 financial year. Whilst market conditions can be challenging, SSE is a resilient business built for the long-term.

"With its balanced range of business, clear market focus, operational efficiency and strong financial management, this business is well-placed to continue to deliver annual dividend growth of at least RPI inflation."





Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Deutsche Bank comment:
"SSE reported H1 results ahead of our estimates, mainly due to a better performance in the retail division. However, retail profits are still expected by the company to be down yoy while falling gas and power prices in the wholesale market make commodity conditions challenging. SSE has announced a further 500MW reduction of coal power capacity, showing the pain in the generation market. Despite the weak commodities, the good performance of regulated networks and lack of any acceleration in customer losses is supportive. Hold.

SSE reported H1 results c. £45m ahead, mainly on the retail business but the cautious tone on H2 means FY consensus is unlikely to move up significantly. Operating profit was £702m vs DB £658m, adjusted PBT was £548m vs DB £501m and EPS of 45.9p was 8.5% ahead of DB 42.3p. The better retail profits were due partly to colder weather than normal, but customer losses also slowed, to co 5% yoy,, which we found encouraging. The DPS was up 1.1% to 27.1p which is perhaps a little disappointing and below our hoped for 1.9%. However, this is still above the currently low RPI inflation. SSE reiterated its expectations that FY adjusted EPS would be at least 115p/share (DBE 116.5p on the SSE basis, or 102p after pension finance costs and deferred tax).

SSE has said that it will reduce transmission contracted coal capacity at Fiddlers Ferry by c. 500MW to just under 1500MW from April next year. This will save SSE transmission capacity costs but will further reduce available coal capacity in the market next year (with around 5000MW of other announced closures). While this may ultimately tighten the market and help to lift prices it shows the severe pain being endured by UK coal capacity against a backdrop of falling gas prices and increased carbon taxes. The results of the generation capacity auction on 8 December could trigger further closure decisions in the medium term.

Overall we continue to rate SSE a Hold. Its long term track record of dividend growth is impressive and its regulated networks continue to make excellent returns despite the step down in electricity distribution profits this year from the new 8 year price control. Offsetting this is an extremely challenging backdrop for market-exposed businesses with SSE’s clean hydro and wind generation seeing lower revenues from gas-linked power prices, and competitive and regulatory pressures limiting the retail margin."

SSE - profits and dividend rise

Morgan Stanley today reaffirms its overweight investment rating on SSE PLC (LON:SSE) and raised its price target to 1650p (from 1620p).

Deutsche Bank today reaffirms its hold investment rating on SSE PLC (LON:SSE) and raised its price target to 1450p (from 1400p).

Energy giant SSE is considering shutting its Fiddler's Ferry coal-fired power plant early, threatening to blow a hole in the Government's plans to keep the lights on, the Telegraph has learnt. The 2GW power plant in Cheshire produces enough electricity to power two million homes and in 2014 secured a subsidy contract with the Government to guarantee three of the plant's four units would be available to generate in 2018-19. - Telegraph

Investec Buy 1,431.50 1,500.00 1,500.00 Upgrades

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 1,456.50 1,280.00 1,550.00 Upgrades

Sale of a stake in Clyde Wind Farm

Preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2016

18 May 2016
This report sets out the preliminary results for SSE plc for the year to 31 March 2016. It includes updates on operations and investments in its Wholesale, Networks and Retail (including Enterprise) businesses.

Overview
· SSE has met its main financial objective of an annual increase in the full-year dividend that is at least equal to RPI inflation - recommended full-year dividend up 1.1% to 89.4p;
· Adjusted earnings per share down 3.7% to 119.5p but ahead of target of at least 115p;
· Dividend cover of 1.34 times, which is within the expected range of 1.2 times-1.4 times;
· SSE is targeting a return to growth and adjusted earnings per share of at least 120p in 2016/17; and delivery of a full-year dividend that at least keeps pace with RPI inflation in 2016/17 and in the subsequent years;
· Taking account of the general uncertainties in the operating environment, SSE expects its dividend cover could range from around 1.2 times to around 1.4 times over the three years to 2018/19, based on dividend increases that at least keep pace with RPI inflation;
· Adjusted profit before tax fell by 3.3% to £1,513.5mand reported profit before tax fell by 19.3% to £593.3m;
· All three reportable business segments contributed adjusted operating profit during 2015/16: Wholesale earned £442.5m, down 6.6%; Networks earned £926.6m, down 1.1% and Retail (including Enterprise) earned £455.2m, down 0.4%. Overall, operating profit is as expected when SSE published its Notification of Close Period on 24 March 2016, although the mix of operating profit is slightly different;
· SSE recorded net exceptional charges of £889.8m before tax which was predominately related to impairment of certain Wholesale assets. Against this, SSE also recorded a gain on the disposal of an interest in its Clyde wind farm of £138.6m which was recorded directly in equity.
· Capital and investment expenditure totalled £1.6bn and adjusted net debt and hybrid capital was £8.4bn at 31 March 2016, compared to £7.9bn at 30 September 2015. While underlying cash flows remain strong, the increase in adjusted net debt follows the acquisition of, and resulting investment in, new gas production and infrastructure assets acquired in October 2015, and unfavourable movements in foreign exchange rates;
· SSE's total investment and capital expenditure is expected to be around £1.75bn in 2016/17 and in the range of £5.5-£6bn across the four years to March 2020;
· SSE continues to focus on operational efficiency and has also secured over £1bn from its asset disposal programme. With a small amount still to complete, this programme has already achieved its objectives and will support future operations and investment;
· SSE considers disposal of up to one third of its 50% equity stake in SGN Limited, with any proceeds being used to return or create value for shareholders; and
· SSE continues to engage constructively with policy-makers and regulators. There is now increased clarity on aspects of the external operating environment with the conclusion of the CMA consideration of the RIIO ED1 framework, planned revisions to the UK Capacity Market and the Provisional Decision on Remedies from the CMA investigation into the supply and acquisition of energy.

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 1,531.00 1,550.00 1,550.00 Reiterates

OFGEM CONSULTS ON REQUEST FROM NATIONAL GRID TO RECOUP SPENDING ON POWER STATION CONTRACTS

Ofgem is consulting on National Grid's request to recover the costs of two contracts for grid services that it agreed with SSE (for the Fiddlers Ferry power station) and Drax following a tender process. The contracts are worth £113 million in total.

These services refer to the ability of certain generators to start up and provide electricity to the transmission system without an external power supply (commonly referred to as "Black Start"). This is an insurance policy for the unlikely event that National Grid needs to re-energise the transmission system.

Traditionally coal plant has provided Britain with this capability, but the economics of running these plant have changed. This means they are available less frequently than before.

Ofgem set National Grid a cost target for these services. National Grid has spent significantly more money than the agreed target. National Grid has applied to Ofgem to recover all of these costs from generators and suppliers through the 'Income Adjusting Events' process.

When making a decision on this Ofgem has powers to disallow some or all of the expenditure on these contracts if it judges that the case for recovering the money has not been met.



-ends-

The Capital Group Companies, Inc. > 15%

Barclays Capital Overweight 1,592.50 1,675.00 1,675.00 Reiterates

TRADING STATEMENT

SSE plc completed the first quarter of its financial year on 30 June 2016 and its Annual General Meeting is taking place today (21 July) in Perth. This trading statement provides information on its operational and investment activities in the first trading quarter of the financial year including:
· a summary of operational performance in SSE's Wholesale, Networks and Retail (including Enterprise) businesses;
· progress made in SSE's plans to invest around £1.75bn in 2016/17 in energy infrastructure in the UK and Ireland;
· agreement to dispose of its three remaining PFI street lighting special purpose entities;
· an update on the possible sale of up to one third of SSE's equity stake in SGN, as announced at the 2015/16 Preliminary Results;
· confirmation that SSE is targeting a return to growth and adjusted earnings per share of at least 120p in 2016/17; and
· confirmation that SSE is continuing to target an increase in the full-year dividend for 2016/17 of at least RPI inflation, with annual increases thereafter of at least RPI inflation also being targeted.

StockMarketWire.com
SSE has hiked its interim dividend to 27.4p a share, from 26.9p, as its adjusted pretax profit slipped to £475.8m, from £548.8m.

It said it was on course to deliver annual dividend increases that kept pace with RPI inflation.

The utility was also on track to undertake capital and investment expenditure totalling almost £6bn over four years to March 2020.

"SSE continues to focus on the fulfilment of its core purpose of providing the energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way," said chairman Richard Gillingwater.

"In this financial year so far we have again delivered what we said we would, particularly with the sale of one third of our stake in SGN; further disciplined investment in networks and renewables; delivering high quality customer service; and the efficient operation of our assets.

"The operating environment presents some challenges, notably with changes to the UK Government and macro-economic uncertainty, with the added issue of Brexit.

"There have, however, been some welcome developments, particularly the UK Government's recent reforms to the Capacity Market in GB. SSE continues to engage constructively with governments and regulators to help them achieve their aims for the energy market.

"Whilst there should always be a degree of caution about interpreting half-year results, especially against a background of volatile market conditions, we have made a satisfactory start to this financial year.

"Looking to the challenges that lie ahead, our long-term focus will continue to be on operating our balanced range of energy businesses safely and efficiently and maintaining disciplined financial management.

"This long-term approach puts SSE on course to achieve our financial objective of delivering an increase in the full-year dividend at least equal to RPI inflation."

Interim Dividend Timetable

12 Dec Macquarie Outperform 1,506.50 1,700.00 1,700.00 Reiterates

12 Dec Barclays Capital Overweight 1,506.50 1,765.00 1,765.00 Reiterates

Changes to standard GB domestic energy prices; dual fuel bill to increase by 6.9%
· SSE to increase standard GB domestic electricity prices but will hold gas prices at their current level
· Price change equates to a £73 or an average 6.9% rise for a typical dual fuel customer*, as a result of an average 14.9%2 electricity price increase
· Electricity prices will increase from 28 April 2017
· Dual fuel customers will still pay less than they did at the end of 2013 due to three reductions in gas prices and one electricity price cut since then
· Rise reflects the increasing cost of supplying electricity
· SSE will establish a £5m fund, providing targeted financial assistance to minimise the impact on vulnerable customers

Three and a half years since its last price rise, energy supplier SSE has taken the difficult decision to increase standard domestic electricity prices from 28 April 2017, but confirmed it will hold gas prices at their current levels.

The 6.9%* dual fuel increase will mean a typical domestic customer will pay on average £731 a year more, which equates to around £1.40 per week, as a result of an average 14.9%2 increase in electricity prices. The new typical dual fuel bill of £1,142 per year remains cheaper than in November 2013 and gas prices remain the cheapest they've been since October 2012, thanks to three price cuts in the intervening period. This change to electricity prices will affect around 2.8 million SSE customers3 in Great Britain.

The price change reflects the increasing cost of supplying electricity, and specifically higher costs associated with delivering vital government programmes designed to upgrade Britain's ageing energy infrastructure and help the country move towards a low carbon future. These costs are levied predominantly against electricity customers.

SSE has sought to protect customers as much as possible and was the first major supplier to commit to holding prices until at least April 2017; it has resisted pressure on gas prices, and continues to bear down on its own controllable costs in order to minimise the impact of increasing costs on customers.

For those customers looking for security over their longer-term energy costs, SSE is now offering a fixed-price tariff for three years, providing peace of mind all the way to 2020.

Berenberg today upgrades its investment rating on SSE PLC (LON:SSE) to buy (from hold) and raised its price target to 1650p (from 1550p).

Goldman Sachs Neutral 1,432.50 1,528.00 1,528.00 Reiterates

Jefferies International Hold 1,432.50 1,550.00 1,400.00 Reiterates

Preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2017

17 May 2017
This report sets out the preliminary results for SSE plc for the year to 31 March 2017. It includes updates on operations and investments in its Wholesale, Networks and Retail (including Enterprise) businesses.

Overview of 2016/17
Financial highlights for the year to 31 March 2017 are as follows. Comparisons are with the previous year unless otherwise stated:

· Recommended full-year dividend up 2.1% to 91.3p;
· Adjusted earnings per share up 5.2% to 125.7p;
· Adjusted dividend cover towards top of expected range at 1.38 times;
· Adjusted operating profit up 2.7% to £1,874.0m;
· Adjusted profit before tax up 2.1% to £1,545.9m;
· Adjusted profit after tax up 6.1% to £1,268.9m;
· Net exceptional charge of £8.2m (net charges of £374.6m offset by £366.4m from the gain on sale of SGN stake and the revaluation of SSE's Clyde wind farm investment);
· Investment and capital and investment expenditure up 6.6% to £1.7bn;
· Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital up 1.1% to £8.5bn at 31 March 2017;and
· On market share buy backs totalling £131m in the period to 31 March 2017, plus an additional £65m in April 2017.
Reported results for 2016/17 are significantly higher than those for 2015/16 due to the impact on reported profit before tax of the significant exceptional charges incurred in 2015/16. These related mainly to the write down of wholesale generation, gas storage and production assets in 2015/16 compared to the gain on sale of a stake in SGN plus lower asset write downs in 2016/17. This together with the relative movement in mark to market valuations on forward purchase contracts for commodities over both years (which at March 2017 were still 'out of the money') contributed to a net reported gain before tax of £247.5m in 2016/17 compared to a loss before tax on those items of (£904.3m) in 2015/16.

This swing is explained in more detail in the relevant sections throughout this report and is the main driver for:

• Reported profit before tax increasing to £1,776.6m in 2016/17 compared to a £593.3m in 2015/16, due to the movement in non-recurring exceptional items; and

• Reported earnings per share increasing to 158.4p in 2016/17 compared to 46.1p in 2015/16, again due to the movement in non-recurring exceptional items.

Outlook for 2017/18
For the 2017/18 financial year, SSE is:

· Targeting an annual increase in the full-year dividend that is at least equal to RPI inflation ;
· Working to keep dividend cover within the expected range of around 1.2- 1.4 times, although it is likely to be towards the bottom of it, as stated in SSE's Notification of Pre Close Statement on 30 March 2017, which also means adjusted earnings per share is likely to be lower than it was in 2016/17; and
· Expecting to invest around £1.7bn in building, owning and operating assets, with around two thirds of this in electricity networks and renewable energy.
As stated on 30 March, the level of dividend cover is subject to the ongoing factors that influence earnings in SSE's market-based businesses.

Outlook to 2020
Looking further ahead, over the three years to March 2020, SSE is:

· Targeting delivery of annual dividend increases that at least keep pace with RPI inflation;
· Working towards achievement of dividend cover within a range of around 1.2 times to 1.4 times;
· Focusing on progress in its capital and investment expenditure totalling around £6bn across the four years to 2020, mainly in electricity networks and renewable energy;
· Targeting an increased RAV of its economically-regulated networks businesses, to close to £9bn;
· Targeting an increased amount of renewable capacity, including pumped storage, to 4.3GW; and
· Working to deliver enhanced customers experience of retail energy markets through the installation of smart meters and the provision of digital services.
As stated on 30 March, the level of dividend cover is subject to the ongoing factors that influence earnings in SSE's market-based businesses, and is also subject to material change in sector regulation.

more.....

FURTHER SALE OF A STAKE IN CLYDE WIND FARM TO GREENCOAT AND GLIL

SSE has signed an agreement to sell a further stake in Clyde Windfarm (Scotland) Limited ("Clyde")* to Greencoat UK Wind Plc ("UKW") and GLIL Infrastructure LLP ("GLIL").

In March 2016, SSE announced the initial sale of Clyde equating to 49.9% of the existing 349.6MW operational wind farm. At the time, it was highlighted that when the commercial operation (which will occur shortly) of the 172.8MW extension began, the equity stake in Clyde jointly owned by UKW and GLIL would be diluted to 30% with SSE retaining 70%.

Under the new agreement, on dilution, UKW and GLIL will acquire an additional 5% of Clyde, equating to 26.1MW, for a cash consideration of £67.8million, before costs, taking their share of the total Clyde development to 35%.

UKW and GLIL also have the option to buy a further 14.9% of Clyde, equating to 77.8MW, for a cash consideration of £202.2 million, before costs. This option can be exercised between 1 April 2018 and 30 June 2018.

If this option were to be exercised, SSE's share in Clyde would reduce to 50.1% with UKW and GLIL owning the remaining 49.9%.

This transaction implies a combined valuation of the two wind farms of £2.6million per MW.

The Clyde windfarm is located in South Lanarkshire and the original wind farm has a combined generating capacity of 349.6 MW from 152 Siemens 2.3MW turbines. The Clyde Extension consists of 54 Siemens 3.2 MW turbines with a total capacity of 172.8 MW and SSE believes it is one of the most efficient large wind farms in Great Britain.

Notification of closed period http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5680447

SSE PLC



In line with its stated commitment to embrace change in each of its businesses, adapting them to the political, economic, social and technological requirements of customers and of society as a whole, the Board of SSE plc has been in discussions with innogy SE about creating a new independent energy supply company to which would be contributed: SSE's household energy supply and services business in Great Britain; and innogy's household and business energy supply business in Great Britain.

The discussions between SSE and innogy are continuing and are well-advanced but no final decisions have been taken and no binding agreements regarding the terms of any combination have been entered into. Any proposal to form a new company combining the businesses described above would be subject to the customary regulatory approvals, and approval of the transaction by SSE plc shareholders. The combined business would be listed and SSE would demerge its shares to its shareholders.

In discussions, SSE is mindful of the requirements of customers and the concerns of employees. It will disclose the outcome of the discussions as soon as they are concluded; but in the meantime will not be commenting further on any aspect of the discussions.



This announcement is being disclosed in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (EU596/2014) and has been determined to contain inside information in line with the definition therein.

NPower are useless http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41901335

Let's assume the deal is a success... SSE Shareholder get some shares in the new supply co....but will SSE's income and/or Shares be further reduced? IC suggests "Buy" but would it be better to wait for definite News, Timetable, etc?
If SSE continues with 6.5% Yield, that should pay my Electric Bills . . . but I don't want to lose Capital ...! . . . sp~1337.
EDIT20Nov2917)- Today, MoneyAM can't display this Company...yet LSE shows Trades and prices....Tried Contact-Us but you get a vacant extension(msg). ODD.

Trading Statement

SSE plc completed the third quarter of its financial year on 31 December 2017. This trading statement:

· highlights that for 2017/18 SSE now expects to deliver adjusted earnings per share in the range of 116 to 120 pence;

· confirms that for 2017/18 SSE still expects to report an annual increase in the full-year dividend that at least keeps pace with RPI inflation;

· provides an update on SSE's operational performance and on progress with its capital investment programme for 2017/18, which is now expected to be around £1.6bn (previously £1.7bn); and

· confirms that the planned combination of SSE's household energy supply and services business in GB with npower, to create a new independent energy supplier, remains on course to be completed by the last quarter of 2018 or the first quarter of 2019.

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NOTIFICATION OF CLOSED PERIOD

SSE plc will enter its closed period on 1 April 2018, prior to the publication on Friday 25 May of its financial results for the year to 31 March 2018.

Financial Outlook 2017/18

SSE expects that it will deliver for 2017/18:

· An increase in the full-year dividend that is at least equal to RPI inflation which is forecast to be around 3.7%;

· Adjusted earnings per share that is just above 120 pence; and

· Capital and investment expenditure totalling around £1.5bn with net debt and hybrid capital likely to be around £9.3bn at 31 March 2018.

SSE expects to report that all three of its segments - Wholesale, Networks and Retail - will have been profitable during 2017/18.

· Adjusted operating profit for Wholesale is expected to be significantly higher than in 2016/17, mainly reflecting the increase in electricity output from SSE's renewable and gas-fired generation plant.

· As previously stated, adjusted operating profit for Networks is expected to be around £150m lower than in 2016/17, on an absolute basis, as a result of:

i. the disposal by SSE in October 2016 of part of its stake in SGN;

ii. the phasing of returns in the Price Control mechanisms for Electricity Transmission and Distribution.

· Adjusted operating profit for Retail is expected to be broadly in line with that earned in 2016/17.

Financial Outlook 2018/19 and beyond

The 2018/19 financial year is expected to be one of transition for the SSE group. The planned demerger of SSE's GB household energy supply and services business remains on course but its timing, if approved, is not certain. Furthermore, within 2018/19, the impact and timing of the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff) Cap Bill, if enacted, is unclear.



Despite these uncertainties and their potential impact on adjusted earnings per share, SSE continues to target an annual increase in the full-year dividend for 2018/19 that is at least equal to RPI inflation.

SSE said on 8 November 2017 that following the expected demerger of its GB household energy supply and services business, its dividend and dividend policy from 2019/20 for the remaining business will reflect the quality and nature of its assets and operations, the earnings derived from them and the longer-term financial outlook.

SSE also said on 8 November 2017 that more detail on this will be set out by the time the shareholder circular in respect of the transaction is published, and this will be included in the preliminary results statement on 25 May 2018. SSE intends to supplement the preliminary results presentation on that date with updates on the business areas expected to remain within SSE after the planned demerger.


Intention to create a new independent energy supplier

Following early engagement with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), SSE and innogy SE formally notified the CMA on 28 February 2018 of their intention to create a new, independent energy supplier in GB. This triggered an announcement by the CMA on 28 February 2018 that a Phase One investigation of the transaction is now under way. This is the standard process and has a statutory deadline of 40 working days.

Work has continued to progress to prepare for the planned transaction and SSE will shortly complete the transfer of the GB energy supply and services businesses that are expected to be the subject of the planned demerger and subsequent merger with npower to a wholly-owned subsidiary named SSE Energy Services Group. A total of 8,800 employees are being transferred to the new retail group.

Gregor Alexander, Finance Director of SSE, said:

"As expected, 2017/18 has involved a number of significant challenges, but SSE is a robust, sustainable business that has kept its strong operational focus on meeting the needs of customers. It has also kept its focus on efficient investment in the energy assets needed now and in the future. This means we are in a good position to deliver financial results ahead of our expectations at the start of this financial year.

"The challenges are not expected to relent in 2018/19, and it will be a year of major transition and change for SSE. Throughout the year, we will retain our strong operational and investment focus, while preparing the businesses in the SSE group for the important developments that lie ahead. In this way, we will do the best possible job for customers and other stakeholders, and build options and opportunities for the future, while delivering on our dividend commitment to investors. That has been, and will remain, the SSE way."

Preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2018

25 May 2018

This report sets out the preliminary results for SSE plc for the year to 31 March 2018. It includes updates on operations and investments in its Wholesale, Networks and Retail (including Enterprise) businesses.

Overview of 2017/18
SSE's financial highlights for the year to 31 March 2018 are set out below and are in line with its Notification of Closed Period statement of 29 March 2018, with adjusted earnings per share ahead of expectations at the start of the financial year. Comparisons are with the previous financial year unless otherwise stated.

· Recommended full-year dividend up 3.7% to 94.7p;

· Adjusted earnings per share down 3.6% to 121.1p;

· Adjusted operating profit down 2.4% to £1,828.7m#;

· Adjusted profit before tax down 6.0% to £1,453.2m;

· Net exceptional charges of £213.3m;

· Investment and capital expenditure down 12.9% to £1,503.0m;

· Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital up 8.7% to £9.2bn at 31 March 2018;

· Reported operating profit down 28.9 % to £1,379.2m;

· Reported profit before tax down 38.9% to £1,086.2m; and

· Reported earnings per share down 48.7% to 81.3p.

# Follows sale by SSE of 16.7% stake in SGN in October 2016.

Note: The definitions SSE uses for adjusted measures are consistently applied and are explained in the Alternative Performance Measures section of this document, before the Summary Financial Statements

Key developments in 2018/19

In its Notification of Close Period statement on 29 March, SSE said that the 2018/19 financial year is expected to be one of transition for the SSE group. Key developments are expected to include:

· The planned transaction* relating to SSE's GB household energy supply and services business (now named SSE Energy Services), subject to approvals, which remains on track for completion in the last quarter of 2018 or the first quarter of 2019. SSE shareholders will retain their existing SSE shares and will also hold one share in the newly-listed business for every existing SSE share they hold at demerger record date; and from that point, SSE will no longer derive cash flow or earnings from supplying energy and services to households in GB.

· The expected enactment later this year of the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill and subsequent introduction of a temporary cap on the price of standard variable and default electricity and gas tariffs. It is intended to be in place for the winter of 2018/19.

*See: Important note: planned SSE Energy Services transaction above

Outlook for 2018/19 to 2022/23
SSE's strategy is to create value for shareholders and society from developing, owning and operating energy and related infrastructure and services in a sustainable way, and at its core will be regulated energy networks and renewable energy.

The financial objective of this strategy is to remunerate shareholders' investment through the payment of dividends. SSE believes that its dividends should be sustainable, based on the quality and nature of its assets and operations, the earnings derived from them and the longer-term financial outlook.

In line with this, taking account of the impact of the expected key developments in 2018/19, and reflecting the underlying quality and value of its assets and earnings and the cash flows they deliver, SSE's plan for the dividend for the five years to 2023 is as follows:

· For 2018/19, SSE is intending to recommend a full-year dividend of 97.5 pence per share, an increase of 3% on 2017/18, which is broadly in line with expectations for RPI inflation. This provides clarity in a year of transition and is not subject to the timing of either the SSE Energy Services transaction or the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap Bill).

· For 2019/20, SSE is planning to set the first post-transaction dividend at 80.0 pence per share, which reflects the impact of the changes in the SSE group expected to take effect by then. This provides a sustainable basis for future dividend growth.

· For 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 SSE is targeting annual increases in the full-year dividend that at least keep pace with RPI inflation. This reflects SSE's confidence in the quality and value of its assets and earnings and cash flows they deliver.

This plan for the dividend for the five years to March 2023, when the current electricity distribution Price Control comes to an end, supersedes SSE's previous reference to a dividend cover range and is a plan which:

· Aims to provide shareholders with certainty in 2018/19, a year of transition for SSE;

· Reflects the changes in the SSE group expected to take effect by the start of the 2019/20 financial year; and

· Sets the dividend on a path for sustainable growth for the three years from 2020.

SSE intends to retain a Scrip dividend scheme but where take-up of the full-year dividend exceeds 20%, SSE now intends to buy back shares so the dilutive effect of the Scrip is limited.

In addition to the dividend plan above, subject to the necessary approvals being secured, the transaction relating to SSE Energy Services announced on 8 November means shareholders in SSE will receive one share in the planned new independent energy supply and services company for every one SSE share they hold at the demerger record date.

Continuing to invest in assets and infrastructure

Over the five years to March 2023, and based on existing plans, SSE expects its capital and investment expenditure to total around £6bn.

Around 70% of the total capex and investment forecast is expected to be related to regulated electricity networks and renewable sources of energy; it also includes £350m investment in a new highly efficient and flexible 840MW gas-fired power station at Keadby in Lincolnshire (Keadby '2').

In the first of the five years, 2018/19, capital and investment expenditure is forecast to be around £1.7bn. SSE currently expects its adjusted net debt and hybrid capital to peak at around £10bn and to fall back towards £9bn by 2023.

Contributing to the UK and Irish economies

SSE's wider economic contribution is substantially larger than the profit it makes. In addition to creating value for shareholders, SSE supports inclusive economic growth across the UK and Ireland by developing, owning and operating energy and related infrastructure and services in a sustainable way. Its contribution to UK Gross Domestic Product in 2017/18 totalled £8.6bn, taking the total for the last seven years to £65.2bn (in 2017/18 prices). In Ireland, it was €806m in 2017/18. These results are provided by PwC, which has undertaken SSE's economic contribution analysis for every financial year since 2011/12.

SSE has today published a summary of its sustainability impacts in 2017/18, in advance of the publication of its Sustainability Report 2018 on 15 June 2018.

Richard Gillingwater, Chairman of SSE, said:

"As expected, 2017/18 presented a number of complex challenges to manage, but SSE's operational performance was generally very robust and significant progress was achieved in key aspects of the company's capital investment programme. It is encouraging that the company's financial results are ahead of expectations at the start of the financial year.

"The challenges will continue in 2018/19, which is also expected to be a year of major transition for SSE. A strong operational and investment focus on meeting the current and future needs of energy customers is essential, as is preparing the businesses in the SSE group for the changes that lie ahead.

"SSE's strategic goal is to create value in a sustainable way, for shareholders and society. The changes we are making as we renew SSE are intended to have positive outcomes over the long term for customers, stakeholders and investors.

"For investors, by giving clarity on the dividend for the five years to March 2023, SSE is demonstrating that remunerating them for their investment is and will remain its first financial objective."

SSE to pay £1m after inaccurate annual statements

SSE to pay £1 million after issuing inaccurate and misleading annual statements to pre-payment meter customers between 2014/15

SSE has agreed to pay £1 million to Ofgem's consumer redress fund after providing some pre-payment meter (PPM) customers with inaccurate and misleading information in annual statements.1

Ofgem launched an investigation into the supplier in November last year after SSE reported the issue to the regulator.

The investigation found that, between June 2014 and September 2015, the supplier sent out 1.15 million such annual statements to 580,000 pre-payment meter customers.

Due to an IT coding error, these annual statements had inaccurate information on the alternative cheaper tariff available to customers and inaccurate estimates of how much they could save annually by switching to them.

Some statements also overestimated the annual savings the customers could make by changing their pre-payment meter to a standard credit meter paying by direct debit, as well as by moving to paperless billing.

Our investigation found that, whilst a large number of incorrect annual statements were issued to customers, the level of harm is low as only a small proportion of those customers would have acted on the information by switching. The average saving for each of these customers would also have been low.

The investigation found that SSE failed to act promptly to put things right, by not identifying the issue at an early stage and by not escalating action to address it or putting in place appropriate remedial actions.

The supplier also failed to put in place arrangements and processes around customer communications that were complete, thorough and fit for purpose.2

SSE has since improved its processes to prevent this from happening again. This includes carrying out extra checks on their customer communications before issuing them and giving more resources to the teams involved.

Ofgem has now closed this case without taking formal enforcement action, taking into account the steps that SSE has since taken to address its failings and, considering the low level of harm identified, the redress it has agreed to pay.

SSE will pay £1 million into Ofgem's consumer redress fund administered by the Energy Savings Trust, which supports consumers in vulnerable situations and the development of innovative products or services not currently available to energy consumers.3

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Ex dividend on 26th July @66.30p

Berenberg Buy 1,382.00 1600.00 1470.00 Reiterates

StockMarketWire.com
SSE said that dry, still and warm weather and persistently high gas prices negatively impacted its adjusted operating profit by around £80m in the first quarter, adding that this would potentially impact on its full-year results.

The above factors resulted in a higher cost of energy, lower-than-expected power output from renewables and lower energy consumption.

"Looking ahead, we are very focused on fulfilling our obligations to energy customers and delivering on our key priorities. Those priorities include successful delivery of our plans to invest around £1.7bn in this financial year, and we are pleased with the progress of key projects, including the installation of the first two turbines at the Beatrice offshore wind farm," said Chief Executive Alistair Phillips-Davies.

"We are strongly committed to delivering the five-year dividend plan we set out in May," he added.

Hydro output was higher than the same period in 2017, mainly due to higher snow melt in the period. However, hydro output in both Q1-17/18 and Q1-18/19 was below expected levels, with Q1-18/19 around 20% lower than plan.

Poorer-than-average wind conditions in the first quarter resulted in some output from onshore and offshore wind farms being some 15% lower than planned.

StockMarketWire.com
Energy utility SSE warned it expected its first-half adjusted profits to halve in the current financial year, as warmer weather and higher prices sapped demand.

The company also warned that a new regulatory price cap would have a worse-than-expected impact on its energy services business for the full year.

In the five months through August, the company said relatively dry, still and warm weather had continued, as had persistently high gas prices. Low wind conditions had also lowered renewable energy output.

Its adjusted operating profit for those first five months of the financial year had therefore been negatively affected by around £190m compared with plan.

'The net result is that SSE currently expects its adjusted operating profit for the six months to 30 September 2018 will be around half of that delivered in the same period in 2017,' the company said.

Ofgem's proposed default tariff cap, associated methodology and input data, if implemented on 1 January, was expected to result in adjusted operating profit for SSE Energy Services in 2018/19 'being significantly lower' than SSE expected at the start of the financial year.

Unlike other suppliers, SSE Energy Services had implemented only one increase in standard household energy prices during 2018, the company noted.

'Looking ahead, because it is the subject of the planned transaction with npower, SSE Energy Services is likely to be deemed to be held for sale in SSE's financial statements,' SSE said.

'This means it will be excluded from the calculation of SSE's adjusted earnings per share for 2018/19.'

On dividends, SSE said it still expected to recommend a full-year dividend of 97.5p per share for 2018/19 and to deliver its five-year dividend plan set out in May.

'Lower than expected output of renewable energy and higher than expected gas prices mean that SSE's financial performance in the first five months has been disappointing and regrettable,' chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said.

'The underlying quality of SSE's businesses remains strong, with regulated networks and renewables providing the core of what will be an infrastructure-focused SSE group in the years ahead. '

Citigroup today reaffirms its neutral investment rating on SSE PLC (LON:SSE) and cut its price target to 1203p (from 1327p).

HSBC today downgrades its investment rating on SSE PLC (LON:SSE) to hold (from buy) and cut its price target to 1300p (from 1400p).

MAJOR GAS DISCOVERY ON GLENDRONACH PROSPECT

Statement re: CMA Final Report

SSE comments on publication of CMA's Final Report into proposed GB energy retail merger

SSE plc (SSE) welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)'s publication of its Final Report following the inquiry into the proposed merger of SSE Energy Services, SSE's household energy and services business in GB, and Innogy SE (innogy)'s GB retail business, npower Ltd.

Commenting on the publication, Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive of SSE plc, said:

"We are very pleased that the Final Report of the CMA's investigation confirms its provisional findings that the proposed merger of SSE Energy Services and npower does not raise any competition concerns.

"This is a complex transaction and there is still much work to do in the coming weeks and months. However, we've always believed that the creation of a new, independent energy and services retailer has potential to deliver real benefits for customers and the market as a whole and it is good to see that the CMA has cleared the transaction following what was a comprehensive and rigorous inquiry."

ENDS

Energy firms SSE and Npower renegotiate terms of merger

Interim results for the six months to 30 September 2018

14 November 2018

This report sets out the interim results for SSE plc for six months to 30 September 2018, which are ahead of the expectations set out in the Trading Statement and Notification of Close Period Statement issued on 12 and 25 September 2018 respectively.

Headline results (excluding SSE Energy Services)

Excluding SSE Energy Services, which is held for disposal:

· adjusted earnings per share is 19.6 pence (down 39.9%);

· adjusted profit before tax is £246.4m (down 40.9%);

· reported loss per share is 22.6 pence; and

· reported loss before tax is £265.3m.

SSE has also today announced the interim dividend per share for 2018/19 of is 29.3 pence, an increase of 3.2%.

SSE is today announcing that it will consolidate the development, operation and ownership of all of its renewable energy assets in the UK and Ireland under a single entity called SSE Renewables.

Revenue - adoption of IFRS15

As a consequence of adoption of IFRS 15 on 1 April 2018, optimisation trading revenue and costs of sales, which were previously presented gross, are now presented within cost of sales on a net basis. This has reduced revenue and cost of sales by £7.9bn in the six months ended 30 September 2018, with no impact on gross profit or the Group's cashflows.

Outlook
Dividend
SSE continues to intend to recommend a full-year dividend of 97.5 pence per share for 2018/19 and to deliver the five-year dividend plan set out in May 2018.

Adjusted operating profit (excluding SSE Energy Services)
The outlook for SSE's Networks and Wholesale businesses for the financial year to 31 March 2019 is in line with that set out in its Trading Statement:

· Adjusted operating profit for the Networks businesses is expected to increase by a mid-single digit percentage; and

· Performance of Wholesale businesses will continue to be dependent on the range of factors set out at the start of the financial year; Energy Portfolio Management (EPM), however, is now expected to incur a slightly lower than previously forecast adjusted operating loss for 2018/19, at around £300m, as a result of action taken since September.

Adjusted earnings per share (excluding SSE Energy Services)
Excluding the results for SSE Energy Services, which is now held for disposal, SSE currently expects to deliver adjusted earnings per share in the range of 70p to 75p for 2018/19 as a whole, which compares to 98.3p on a like for like basis for the year ended 31 March 2018.

The forecast adjusted EPS number excludes two gains on sale: £74.2m recognised from the sale in May 2018 of a further 14.9% stake in Clyde Wind farm. A further £53m is expected to be received as a distribution from the Environmental Capital Fund (in which SSE has a 48% stake) as a result of its sale of the independent gas transportation network Indigo Pipelines in November 2018.

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CREATION OF SSE RENEWABLES


SSE plc plans to consolidate the development, operation and ownership of its renewable energy assets in the UK and Ireland under a single entity to be known as SSE Renewables.

The creation of SSE Renewables is a step towards SSE's vision of being a leading energy company in a low carbon world and is in line with SSE's commitment, set out in its Business Update in May 2018, to take forward a new business model that gives:

· greater focus on core businesses including renewables;

· investors greater visibility of assets and earnings;

· each of its businesses the best platform for future success.

Assets

SSE Renewables will comprise SSE's existing operational assets, and assets under development and construction in the UK and Ireland in:

· onshore wind;

· offshore wind;

· flexible hydro electricity;

· run-of-river hydro electricity; and

· pumped storage

The group's operational assets are currently expected to total over 4GW at 31 March 2019, with actual capacity subject to the potential sale of stakes of up to 50% in the Stronelairg and Dunmaglass onshore wind farms.

Markets

The assets of SSE Renewables are all in the UK and Ireland, and the business' focus will remain on those markets. In line with its Business Update in May, SSE is also seeking to extend its core competences in renewables energy to geographical areas beyond the UK and Ireland. The creation of SSE Renewables is expected to result in the creation of more opportunities in different markets, and SSE has begun the process of early assessment of potential opportunities.

Management

SSE Renewables will have its own and dedicated and experienced management team. Jim Smith currently SSE's Managing Director, Generation, has been appointed Managing Director Designate for SSE Renewables. Reporting to Wholesale Director Martin Pibworth, he will lead the work being done to prepare for the formation of the new entity, which is expected to be largely complete by the end of the current financial year. Management of and reporting in relation to the new entity is likely to begin in advance of its formal incorporation.

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JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 1163.50 1450.00 1230.00 Reiterates

Hasn't done the sp any harm.....

Bills may soar after power row

British energy supplier SSE on Monday pulled out of its planned merger with Innogy's Npower retail unit, saying the two companies could not agree on commercial terms. "The transaction has been impacted by multiple factors including the performance of the respective businesses, clarity on the final level of the default tariff cap, changing energy market conditions and the associated implications of these for both the joint business plan and the market in which the business would be operating," SSE said. "These implications meant the new company would have faced very challenging market conditions, particularly during the period when it would have incurred the bulk of the integration costs."

SSE said full year adjusted EPS would be 6p lower as a result of the capacity market "standstill", taking the forecast to 64p to 69p a share. The EU General Court ruled last November that Britain must halt payments under the scheme pending an investigation by European Union regulators. SSE said it was due £60m.

Saying us tax payers from subsidising a "licence to make money" privatised water outfit...Well played the EU yet again -):

(specially for C Dil and Co)