National Grid performance ‘in line’ with trading expectations
The electricity and gas distribution company said it expects a greater contribution to its earnings per share in the new half-year.
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Your support makes all the difference.National Grid has told shareholders it has performed “in line” with expectations for the past six months.
The electricity and gas distribution firm, however, added that it expects a greater contribution to its earnings per share in the new half-year.
The London-listed company said it met its financial guidance over the first six months of its financial year, to September 30.
But it said US earnings will be particularly focused towards the next half in a bid to reassure investors.
The company said in a statement: “For our UK regulated businesses, we expect contributions to operating profit to be broadly evenly split across the year.
“For our US regulated businesses, we expect contributions to be more heavily weighted towards the second half.”
National Grid added that its New York business is expected to deliver between 10% and 15% of its full-year operating profit over the past half-year after being impacted by a non-cash impairment.
The company previously saw profits for the year to March as the electricity distribution business it bought two years earlier grew strongly.
It had seen a 15% rise in underlying operating profit to £4.6 billion, while reported pre-tax profit rose 4% to £3.6 billion.
In July, National Grid also boosted its funds by selling off another chunk of Britain’s gas infrastructure network.
It agreed for a consortium led by Australian investor Macquarie to increase its ownership of National Gas, which owns thousands of miles of pipes that bring supplies into homes across the country, to 80%.
Shares in the business were broadly flat in early trading on Thursday.