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?

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."