Here it is, your all new National Grid thread. The chart features Bollinger Bands, MACD, 50 and 200 day SMAs.

Web Site Link:

http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk


Here's the link to the old NG. thread

Back above the line.

Morgan Stanley Overweight 1,019.75 1,100.00 1,100.00 Reiterates

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 1,019.75 1,100.00 1,100.00 Reiterates

National Grid completes sale of majority interest in UK Gas Distribution business

National Grid plc is pleased to announce it has completed the sale of a 61% equity interest in National Grid Gas Distribution ("NGGD") to a consortium (the 'Consortium') of long-term infrastructure investors.

The Consortium comprises Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, Allianz Capital Partners, Hermes Investment Management, CIC Capital Corporation, Qatar Investment Authority, Dalmore Capital and Amber Infrastructure Limited/International Public Partnerships.

As previously announced, National Grid intends to return £4 billion of the net proceeds of sale to shareholders. Approximately £3 billion of the proceeds will be returned through a special dividend with a share consolidation, and the remainder by way of a share buyback programme.

National Grid also announces that it has entered into an agreement with the Consortium for the potential sale of a further 14% equity interest in NGGD (the "Further Interest") at the option of National Grid or the Consortium (as applicable) at any time between 1 March 2019 and 31 October 2019, subject to no less than six months' prior written notice and satisfaction of customary regulatory conditions. The expected consideration for the Further Interest is approximately £0.8 billion to be paid in cash and is on broadly similar terms to the sale of the 61% equity interest. If the sale of the Further Interest is completed, the use of proceeds will be updated at that time.

John Pettigrew, Chief Executive of National Grid, said: "I'm pleased that we have successfully completed the sale of a majority interest in our UK Gas Distribution business. This was a significant and complex transaction, under a tight timetable, which has delivered a good outcome for our customers, employees, and shareholders. This transaction will enable National Grid to continue to build a strong asset portfolio that delivers attractive total shareholder returns, while maintaining a strong balance sheet."

As previously announced, in conjunction with the transaction, National Grid will make a voluntary distribution of £150 million for the benefit of energy consumers. National Grid takes very seriously the role it plays in people's daily lives and believes it has a responsibility to ensure that our wider stakeholders also benefit from the sale of NGGD. National Grid wants to ensure that the contribution is used in a way that provides the maximum possible benefit and expects to provide more details about how this will be done in due course.

In line with the announcement on 8 December 2016, the return of proceeds to shareholders will commence as soon as possible following completion of the sale. Shareholder approval will be sought for the share consolidation as well as for the purchase of own shares and other resolutions relating to the capital return at a General Meeting to be held at 9.00 a.m. on Friday 19 May 2017 at the offices of Linklaters LLP, One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ.

Further details about the resolutions to be considered at the General Meeting will be set out in a Circular that is expected to be published on 19 April 2017.

Goes ex-divi on Monday 22nd May (seems odd on a Monday???) but pays 84p.

That's a special divi Harry, and on top of that there's the Finals on the 31, and the final divi. After.

I Read up on NG for the usual "safe as houses" divi but came-away thinking not this year.

And don't forget the consolidation :-

National Grid PLC National Grid completes Gas Distribution sale

Re: return of proceeds:

"In line with the announcement on 8 December 2016, the return of proceeds to shareholders will commence as soon as possible following completion of the sale. Shareholder approval will be sought for the share consolidation as well as for the purchase of own shares and other resolutions relating to the capital return at a General Meeting to be held at 9.00 a.m. on Friday 19 May 2017 at the offices of Linklaters LLP, One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ.

Further details about the resolutions to be considered at the General Meeting will be set out in a Circular that is expected to be published on 19 April 2017."

Provisional Timetable
NYSE notification 31 March 2017
Publication of circular and reference price for share consolidation 19 April 2017
General Meeting 19 May 2017
Record date for the special dividend 19 May 2017
Ex-dividend date for the special dividend 22 May 2017
Special dividend payment date 2 June 2017

Ah, cheers Stan.
Next ex-divi date looks to be 1st June, but no amount set yet.
Seems a pretty good return, so have taken a short term plunge.
Obviously sp will correct ex-div, so will have to watch carefully.

Ah yes I forgot about the consolidation Skinny, another element of possible sp movement that I don't like.

Berenberg today downgrades its investment rating on National Grid PLC (LON:NG.) to hold (from buy) and left its price target at 1050p.

"● Investment case played out: When we upgraded National Grid to Buy in January, the investment case was very simple: in our opinion, the share price did not reflect the value of the forthcoming 84.375p special dividend (ex-div 22 May). That has now played out and the shares are trading close to our unchanged 1,050p price target. Consequently, we are downgrading our rating to Hold.
● Temporary timing factors behind upgrade to near-term forecasts: There can be a mismatch between allowed and recovered revenue. A catch-up is sometimes required. National Grid has announced that timing factors in the UK (UKET) and the US add roughly 7p (previously 2p) to 2016/17E EPS. This represents the lion’s share of our estimate changes. The catch-up effects are, of course, only temporary. Eventually, revenues will normalise.
● Longer-term forecasts little changed: Nevertheless, we make some subtle changes to the mix, with lower growth expectations for UK Electricity Transmission (less growth in the regulatory asset base (RAB)), offset by a higher expected contribution from non-regulated activities (interconnectors) and lower financial expenses. We also make a few tweaks to FX and tax.
● UK general election and risks: UK residential energy bills are once again under fire in the pre-election campaigns. This is more of an issue for supply companies like Centrica, SSE, E.ON, EDF, Iberdrola and innogy than National Grid. That said, National Grid’s growth prospects could be hampered if government intervention prolongs the investment hiatus in new capacity.
● Special dividend: The group plans to return the vast majority of proceeds from its recent Gas Distribution disposal to shareholders via an 84.375p (ú3bn) special dividend and a ú1bn share buyback. The dividend will be accompanied by an EPS-smoothing 11-for-12 share consolidation. The shares will go ex-special-dividend on 22 May 2017 with payment due on 2 June 2017. Given the magnitude of the distribution, the share price could suffer once the shares are ex-dividend.
● Otherwise little else has changed: We see National Grid’s refocused portfolio of regulated businesses delivering a c7% CAGR in regulated asset value 2016/17E to 2019/20E. This supports its RPI-linked dividend growth target (which looks achievable), aided by a steady recovery in US returns thanks to ongoing rate filings. National Grid is a net beneficiary of sterling weakness against the dollar (its US profits modestly outweigh its US debt exposure)."

Barclays Capital today reaffirms its equal weight investment rating on National Grid PLC (LON:NG.) and set its price target at 1075p.

Results for the year ended 31 MARCH 2017

Operational Highlights
· Strong performance and significant strategic progress
· UK regulated efficiency and innovation generated customer savings of £460m over 4 years
· Sale of 61% of UK Gas Distribution business complete, announced £4bn return to shareholders
· Rates updated for downstate New York gas and Massachusetts Electric businesses
· RIIO mid-period regulatory review completed
· Further clarity on the UK System Operator role

Financial Highlights
· Total adjusted1 EPS of 73.0p
· Total adjusted EPS excluding timing of 66.1p, up 6%
· Total Group Return on Equity of 11.7% (2016: 12.3%)
· Significant total capital investment of £4.5bn, up 5% at constant currency
· Recommended full year dividend of 44.27p
· Strong balance sheet maintained

more.....

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 1,040.25 1,100.00 1,100.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 1,040.25 920.00 920.00 Retains

Barclays Capital Equal weight 1,040.25 1,075.00 1,075.00 Reiterates

StockMarketWire.com
National Grid said as a result of a share consolidation effective today its issued capital comprised 3.61bn ordinary shares, of which 173,239,075 were held as treasury shares and the remaining 3.44bn had voting rights.

HSBC today upgrades its investment rating on National Grid PLC (LON:NG.) to buy (from hold) and raised its price target to 1060p (from 1050p).

Berenberg Hold 947.30 1,050.00 1,050.00 Reiterates

UK energy regulator lowers bills for vulnerable homes

Trial to phase in hydrogen as fuel to begin in north-west

Credit Suisse today reaffirms its underperform investment rating on National Grid PLC (LON:NG.) and raised its price target to 860p (from 850p).

StockMarketWire.com
National Grid's adjusted profit before tax fell by 22% at actual exchange rates to £807 million in the six months to 30 September.

Excluding the impact of timing, adjusted profit before tax was up 1% to £916 million.

Operating and finance costs both increased over the year.

Adjusted operating profit fell from £1.4 billion to £1.3 billion, but excluding the impact of timing it rose by 4% to £1.37 billion.

UK Electricity Transmission adjusted operating profit excluding timing fell by 11%, but UK Gas Transmission, US Regulated and NG Ventures and other activities all registered gains of 25%, 19% and 4% respectively.

Capital investment increased by 7% to £2 billion in the first half.

Overall group performance is anticipated to remain in line with the expectations set out at the full year results announcement in May 2017.

John Pettigrew, chief executive, said: "We have delivered a solid financial performance in line with our expectations, made further progress to evolve our business and maintained a world class, safe and reliable service. Our focus on efficiency and innovation has reduced costs and generated increased savings for bill payers.

"We also invested a further £2bn in critical infrastructure during the period. Our improved performance in the US is encouraging, with this part of the business now representing an increasingly important part of our investment proposition. Having reshaped our portfolio in the UK, we continue to expect our electricity and gas transmission businesses to deliver high levels of performance.

"Our outlook for the year is unchanged, underpinned by our expectations for a stronger second half. We are focused on completing rate filings in the US, continuing proactive discussions with Ofgem ahead of the next regulatory settlement in 2021 and seeking new opportunities to grow the business and optimise our performance. We are confident that our strategy continues to create value for shareholders, delivering an attractive yield, and asset growth in the 5% to 7% range."

Jefferies comment:
Headline results. Reported EBIT was £1.26bn (3% below consensus). The miss appears to be in the UK electricity and gas transmission businesses (6% and 13% below consensus respectively), seemingly driven by lower base allowances and higher controllable costs. Reported EPS was 18.5p (including adverse timing effect of 1.9p), which was 5% below consensus. In addition to the miss at the EPS level, contributions from JVs also came in lower than expected (£75m vs. consensus of £109m).

Continued growth in US Regulated business. NG reported 6M EBIT of £433m in its US regulated business. The company is in ongoing discussions with the US regulator over the Niagara Mohawk rate case, and is confident of reaching a reasonable settlement soon, with new rates coming into effect by April 2018. In addition, NG is due to submit rate files for its Massachusetts Gas and Rhode Island Electric and Gas utilities later this month. New rates for Rhode Island Electric and Gas would be expected to come into effect by September 2018, and for Massachusetts Gas by October 2018. With these measures, in the US, NG aims to achieve 90% of the average allowed returns in 2017/18.

Capex remains on track for FY guidance. 6M group capex was £2bn, up 4% at constant currency. Of this, over half (£1.1bn) was invested into the US regulated business, and £672m into its UK electricity and gas transmission businesses. We highlight that NG remains on track to achieve its 2017/18 capex guidance of over £4bn (equally split between UK and US).

Dividend growth continues. The company also announced an interim dividend of 15.49p/share, which represents a 2.1% increase above last year's interim dividend.

FY guidance re-iterated. NG confirmed that it remains confident on delivering FY17/18 guidance. However, it highlighted that it expects financial performance to be significantly weighted to the second half, due to the seasonality of US regulated profits. Over the medium term, NG aims to grow its asset base 5-7%."