(Sharecast News) - SSE posted a jump in full-year profit on Wednesday as it announced plans to invest £25bn in the UK and Ireland electricity infrastructure.
In the year to the end of March, adjusted pre-tax profit rose 23% to £1.16bn, with adjusted earnings per share up 22% to 95.4p.
SSE said it plans to recommend a final dividend of 60.2p a share, taking the full-year dividend to 85.7p, up from 81p the year before.
The company guided to adjusted earnings per share for 2022/23 of "at least" 120p, and updated its guidance for adjusted earnings per share compound annual growth rate of between 7-10% over the five year period to 2025/26. It pointed to higher RPI forecasts, and higher and "more volatile" energy commodity prices.
SSE - whose shares fell sharply on Tuesday following a report that Chancellor Rishi Sunak had ordered a plan for a windfall tax on electricity generators - said "net investment into vital UK and Ireland infrastructure could exceed £25bn this decade, creating thousands of jobs and directly addressing the energy crisis in the longer term".
Chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: "This was a year in which our resilient business mix and balanced portfolio of assets helped us navigate volatile markets and meet our financial objectives whilst making record investments in the critical UK infrastructure needed to tackle climate change and deliver more secure, independent energy supplies.
"We are delivering major projects, building pipelines, and have made inroads in Southern Europe and Japan as we export our renewables capabilities internationally to fulfil SSE's considerable potential. Strategically, operationally and financially, SSE is well-placed to continue to create value for all of our stakeholders and wider society as we create the infrastructure needed to deliver net zero, secure energy supplies and ultimately drive consumer prices down."
At 0915 BST, the shares were up 4.7% at 1,849.02p, having tumbled a day earlier.
SSE (SSE)
