9th Jul 2019 06:59
(Alliance News) - SSE PLC has found it difficult to attract investors due to the UK opposition Labour Party's stated intention to renationalise energy networks, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
In an interview with the FT, the electricity utility's chief executive, Alistair Phillips-Davies, claimed to have had trouble encouraging new investors to purchase shares in SSE after Labour announced that it wanted to bring the large companies which own the country's electricity and gas infrastructure into public hands.
According to the newspaper, Phillips-Davies said: "We are in a situation where you have...an event that appears unlikely but could have quite nasty effects and so it's difficult for us to get new investors to buy into the stock."
Labour first announced its renationalisation plan in its 2017 election manifesto, then in May "suggested it would not compensate shareholders at market value", the newspaper noted.
Phillips-Davies did not confirm to the FT whether SSE is considering an overseas move or ownership structure change. Further, while the company wants to show energy networks are better in the private sector, Phillips-Davies said SSE would complete "any legal things" it needed to "do in the background".
https://www.ft.com/content/26b58272-a17a-11e9-974c-ad1c6ab5efd1
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