By Razak Musah Baba
LONDON--SSE PLC (SSE.LN) expects group operating profit to be
slightly higher than the level achieved in fiscal 2014, the U.K
electricity and gas company said Thursday, adding that it plans to
deliver a full-year dividend increase in line with inflation from
next year.
The company, which reported an operating profit of 848.8 million
pounds ($1.49 billion) during fiscal 2014 which ended in March,
said it expects to report that all three of its segments--Networks,
Retail and Wholesale--have been profitable during fiscal 2015.
However, market conditions have resulted in a decline in
operating profit in Wholesale. By contrast, operational performance
and cost efficiencies are expected to have contributed to increases
in operating profit in Networks and Retail.
Profit margin--adjusted operating profit as a percentage of
revenue--in household energy supply in the U.K. can vary
significantly from year to year and is expected to recover to
around the more typical level reported for 2012/13, the energy
company said.
SSE said it aims to pay dividends and that its objective for
fiscal 2016 and subsequent financial years is to deliver a
full-year dividend increase of at least Retail Price Index
inflation.
RPI inflation is a measure of inflation published monthly by the
U.K Office for National Statistics.
Write to Razak Musah Baba at razak.baba@wsj.com; Twitter:
@Raztweet
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires