SSE set for £1.5bn energy profits despite losing customers

SSE said it is on course to see profits increase by 8.8% to £1.54 billion despite losing thousands of customers following price hikes. The energy giant said it ended the […]

SSE said it is on course to see profits increase by 8.8% to £1.54 billion despite losing thousands of customers following price hikes.

The energy giant said it ended the year with 9.2 million customers – the lowest since the end of 2009 – from 9.47 million.

It was the first of the Big Six suppliers to raise gas and electricity prices by an average of 8.2% last year following which more than half of the customers who left switched suppliers, it said.

Electricity usage also fell by 4.3% and gas by 9.5% when comparing the nine months to the end of December last year to 2012.

However, the energy firm said it expects to deliver “an increase in adjusted profit before tax which is in line with the consensus of analysts’ forecasts” of £1,535 million and increase payouts to shareholders by 3%.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive of SSE said: “Despite what is clearly a difficult business environment, the overall performance of the company has been solid in 2013/14… It is encouraging that SSE is on course to deliver real growth in the dividend and increases in adjusted earnings per share and adjusted profit before tax.”

The energy company is rolling back prices from March 24th by 3.5% after passing on savings from the Government’s green levy reform.

SSE however said it is reviewing all of its planned offshore wind projects after two major wind farms were not granted early subsidy contracts by the government and said its overall investment levels would fall from 2015. It claims to have invested between £1.5 billion – £1.7 billion annually since 2010.

Yesterday rival supplier npower’s research found annual household energy bills could jump to £1330 by 2020 if people don’t take action to save energy.

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