Ok is there a mutter from the gutter going about today or what?
Shares are now consolidated, payout deadline gone, no official
news......??????

(scratches head......)

Any clues among us beautiful BB'ers this afternoon?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/utilities/8827853/National-Grid-reopens-retail-bond-offer-after-strong-demand.html

NG1Q is the ticker for the Index linked Corporate Bond Issue, but don't think MoneyAm is offering that service.

Yes its not covered here - you can follow it over the road.

National Grid PLC (NG.LN), an international electricity and gas company said Monday that it has agreed the sale of Utility Metering Services which trades as Onstream, a non-regulated metering business in the U.K., to Macquarie Bank Ltd, for a total consideration of GBP274.3 million.

MAIN FACTS:

-The cash proceeds from the sale will be used within National Grid to fund the continuing investment program.

-The sale, which is unconditional, is expected to complete shortly.

-Onstream is a non-regulated gas and electricity metering business and represents around 9% of National Grid's total U.K. metering activities by operating profit.

-The sale of Onstream provides a clean exit from the business at an appropriate juncture in its development and delivers good value for investors.

-Shares at 0838 GMT up 1 pence, or 0.2%, at 637 pence, valuing the company at GBP22.64 billion.

Thursday - National Grid, which operates Britain's power and gas networks, offers its interim results. John Musk, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, expects it to report pre-tax profits for the half of 961m, against 971m a year earlier. The UK regulatory environment remains "attractive" and that National Grid's US business is improving, he said. But he estimates the operator faces 150m additional costs in US electricity distribution because of Hurricane Irene this summer

Half Yearly Report.

HIGHLIGHTS

Good underlying performance in first 6 months of 2011/12

Profit before tax1 up 2%, up 19% excluding impact of timing and Hurricane Irene2

Operating profit1 up 7% at constant currency3 excluding impact of timing and Hurricane Irene

Earnings per share1 down4 2% at 19.6p, up 14% excluding impact of timing and Hurricane Irene

Interim dividend increased by 8%, in line with policy

Good strategic progress

Delivering our core investment programme to drive growth in our asset base

Submitted RIIO Transmission business plans, including 25bn of forecast capital investment

Transition to new US operating model completed

$200m cost reduction programme on track

Over 350m of cash generated through disposals of non-core assets from our portfolio in October

Outlook and priorities unchanged

Focus on improving returns and efficiency

New RoCE metric introduced to increase clarity of portfolio performance

Matthew Holehouse, 11:58, Thursday 17 November 2011

National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) has reported a 3.1pc dip in pre-tax profits after Hurricane Irene and snow storms in America left the power distributor nursing a 140m clean-up bill.

Steve Holliday, the chief executive, said a series of storms had given the power distributor a "pretty exceptional six months in the US".

National Grid reported a 3.1pc fall in pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 September to 971m, down 30m.

The bill for Hurricane Irene came to 69m and the snow storms to 50m, bringing the total storm costs for the period to 140m - against 25m in the previous year.

Once the impact of Hurricane Irene and timing differences on the collection of revenues were factored in, underlying profits were up 19pc, the company said in a statement.

Revenue for the half fell 2pc to 6.306bn.

Shares rose in morning trading 6 to 633p.

Hurricane Irene flattened power lines and knocked out two nuclear power stations, leaving 1.4m National Grid customers without electricity for up to a week. It was followed by 30 inches of snow in Massachusettes in October, again shutting down supply.

"We will work hard to recover that cost over the next few years," Holliday said.

He said the restructuring of the US business had not hindered their response to the storms, which killed 56 people and caused extensive flooding and wind damage through the Caribbean, US and Canada. "The response was exceptional," he said.

He acknowledged the anger of customers, saying: "When a storm comes and your power's off for that duration people aren't happy. People want their power back. As customers, our expectations are getting higher. People expect more from us."

National Grid has cut 1150 positions in the US as part of a 127m cost cutting drive.

The company has scheduled 3.2-3.3bn of capital expenditure to upgrade the UK electricity and gas networks.

Holliday said he was "concerned" by the number of workplace accidents in the past six months and said he would "redouble efforts" to ensure safety.

"We will use the lessons learned from incidents over the period to further reduce risks for our people, our customers, our contractors and the public," the company said.

The company will pay an interim dividend of 13.93p a share, up 8pc, on January 18.

Ex-divi on 30th Nov '11, (13.93p)

Just sold a third of my holding here @616.06.

Upgraded to Outperform at Exane BNP Paribas Old TP 645.00p New TP 725.00p

Interim Management Statement.

HIGHLIGHTS

-- Continued solid operational and financial performance
-- On track to deliver US efficiency initiatives
-- UK Gas Distribution RIIO business plans submitted in November
-- One year framework for the 2012/13 UK Transmission price controls agreed in December
-- $240m Niagara Mohawk deferrals recovery approved
-- 1 year dividend policy announced: 4% nominal dividend growth planned for 2012/13

Appointment of Non-executive Director

Credit Suisse reiterates Outperform TP 700.00p.

..Questor share tip: Planned growth in dividend lights up National Grid

By Garry White | Telegraph – 13 hours ago


......
Utilities (Santiago: UTILITIES.SN - news) shares are attractive for widows and orphans and yesterday's long-awaited dividend announcement from National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) is what they wanted to hear.

National Grid 632p +18½ Questor says BUY

The returns investors can get from utility groups are regulated by the Government. Every five years the companies have to submit a plan that balances the needs of investment, customer bills and a return on capital invested in the business.

For National Grid, the next regulatory period starts in April 2013 and runs for eight years. The company has already submitted its plan to agree the price controls, which are attractively named RIIO-GD1.

The UK regulated business constitutes about 60pc of operating profit for National Grid.

This is the reason that the company has a one-year dividend policy. National Grid said it would raise its dividend by 4pc in the year to March 2013. The group's inflation expectations stand at about 3pc, so this represents real growth in the payment.

National Grid's dividend policy has been pretty generous. The group's previous policy was to increase the payout by 8pc a year until 2012. Obviously, there was likely to be some easing.

However, the new interim policy is encouraging because management is unlikely to declare an unsustainable one. If they did the shares would get hammered in 12 months' time when the new policy is announced, so they must be confident that real, above-inflation growth is achievable.

Underscoring this, Steve Holliday, chief executive, said yesterday: "Our dividend is an important part of our returns to shareholders."

The RIIO-GD1 submission seeks baseline total capital and operating investment of around £13.5bn over eight years, including £5.4bn of replacement expenditure. If the business plans were adopted in full, the net impact for customers would be an increase in real terms of £1 a year on a typical household bill. It is looking for a return on equity of 7.2pc, which is the figure investors should be interested in.

Away from regulatory issues, National Grid said the outlook for the current year to March was positive.

In the US, National Grid has recovered $240m (£152m) in deferred costs in New York approved last December.

City analysts have a mixed view on the announcement. Credit Suisse (NYSEArca: CSMA - news) , for example, argued yesterday that National Grid had "one of the best defensive growth profiles in the pan-European utilities sector. However, Investec (Frankfurt: A0J32R - news) said that, although the share price is factoring in a benign outcome for the UK price control reviews "we remain wary of what might develop as the reviews progress".

Questor downgraded the shares to a hold in October last year, when the shares were at 631½p. They have drifted since then and yesterday's rally has brought them back up to this level. Questor is reassured by the fact that the group plans real dividend growth in the current period and the yield is a very attractive 6.5pc in the next financial year.

Trading on a March 2013 earnings multiple of 11.6, the shares are once again a buy for income seekers, up from hold.

However, the regulatory review obviously provides a degree of risk.

..

Exane BNP Paribas reiterates Outperform TP 750.00.

Espirito Santo Execution Noble reiterates Neutra TP 629.00.

653.50 12 month high.

JP Morgan Cazenove Downgrades to Neutral but UPS its target price from 625.00 to 645.00 !!!

Quietly making new 12 months highs today.

UK may lose 6 percent of summer gas due to North Sea leak

(Reuters) - Britain could be facing as much as a 6 percent cut to gas supplies this summer due to the closure of three large fields following a leak found beneath Total's Elgin platform, National Grid said on Tuesday.

skin lets hope for a hot summer.