By Ed Ballard
LONDON--U.K. utility SSE PLC (SSE.LN) said Wednesday that it
plans to close a U.K. coal power plant, citing doubts about the
long-term viability of the fuel, as it posted a modest increase in
full-year underlying earnings.
SSE, which is based in Scotland and supplies gas and electricity
to around 9 million homes and businesses, will shut down the 1,014
megawatt Ferrybridge power station in Yorkshire by next March.
The move follows a review of SSE's coal assets. The company also
said it will enter 1,995 megawatts of coal capacity at the
Fiddler's Ferry power station in Lancashire into a government
capacity auction to be held at the end of 2015.
SSE said the plants are increasingly costly to run in the face
of European Union emissions regulations and the U.K. government's
plan to decarbonise electricity supply.
For the year to March 31, SSE said profit before tax climbed 24%
to GBP735.2 million ($1.14 billion) from GBP592.5 million the year
before. On an underlying basis, pretax profit edged up to GBP1.56
billion from GBP1.55 billion. Investment and capital expenditure
fell by 6.8% to GBP1.48 billion.
The company declared a 2% higher dividend of 88.4 pence and said
it expects to increase payouts to shareholders at least in line
with retail price inflation in its 2016 financial year and
thereafter.
Write to Ed Ballard at ed.ballard@wsj.com
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