21st Nov 2013 08:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - National Grid PLC Thursday said its pretax profit fell slightly in its first half, as expected operating costs hit the company.
The UK and US gas and electricity distributor said pretax profit fell to GBP1.05 billion for the six months ended September 30 from GBP1.18 billion the previous year.
The company said its sales were up 11% to GBP6.72 billion from GBP6.08 billion as its UK operations achieved positive sales from the implementation of new RIIO price controls.
RIIO stands for Revenue=Incentives+Innovation+Outputs and is the framework used by UK energy regulator Ofgem for setting price controls for network companies.
However, National Grid said its operating costs increased 20% to GBP5.19 billion from GBP4.34 billion, as the company was strongly hit by the expected end of deferral income recoveries at its US subsidiary Niagara Mohawk, as well as higher US system implementation costs
National Grid said its overall performance is in line with its expectations for the full year, and the company expects a capital expenditure of around GBP3.5 billion over its 2013/14 year, which is expected to drive regulated asset growth of around 6%.
National Grid shares were down 0.4% to 765.00 pence Thursday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcivor1
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