25th May 2018 08:16
LONDON (Alliance News) - FTSE 100-listed electricity and gas supplier SSE PLC said on Friday that profit dropped in its recently ended financial year despite strong revenue, but it still hiked its dividend and proposed a further rise in the current year.
Pretax profit for the year ended March 31 fell by 39% to GBP1.09 billion from GBP1.78 billion the year before, on revenue that rose 7.6% to GBP31.23 billion from GBP29.03 billion.
The profit drop was due to exceptional costs totalling GBP299.7 million, coming from the Greater Baggan gas production assets in the West of Shetlands region following a reserve report which estimated a reduction in proven and probable hydrocarbon resources.
In addition, an impairment change was recognised for the Bacton Field assets in the UK North Sea, related to higher-than-expected decommissioning costs.
SSE declared a full-year dividend of 94.7 pence per share, up 3.7% from 91.3p the year before, and has targeted a 3.0% increase for the dividend for the current financial year to 97.5p.
"As expected, 2017/18 presented a number of complex challenges to manage, but SSE's operational performance was generally very robust and significant progress was achieved in key aspects of the company's capital investment programme. It is encouraging that the company's financial results are ahead of expectations at the start of the financial year," said Chairman Richard Gillingwater.
"The challenges will continue in 2018/19, which is also expected to be a year of major transition for SSE. A strong operational and investment focus on meeting the current and future needs of energy customers is essential, as is preparing the businesses in the SSE group for the changes that lie ahead," Gillingwater added.
Shares in SSE were down 0.6% at 1,407.00 pence on Friday.
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