Renewables profit growth at SSE but share price falls

The firm is one of the largest producers of renewable energy in the UK and Ireland as well as operating electricity networks and thermal power plants.

Adjusted operating profit fell by 4% to £2.4bn, while adject earning per share fell by 5% to 158.5p.

The firm invested £2.5bn in delivering critical energy infrastructure including final commissioning under way on both Viking onshore wind farm and Shetland subsea transmission link, connecting the islands to the GB grid for the first time.

Adjusted operating profit in its renewables section grew from £561.8m in March 2023, to £833.1m in March 2024.

However, the firm has previously come in for criticism by farmers over concerns about the impact of some of its projects and the loss of agricultural land.

Commenting on the figures, SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: "This is a strong performance where we have delivered essential energy infrastructure, benefited from the resilience of our business model, and made disciplined investment in our excellent growth opportunities.

“Renewables, flexible power and electricity networks are the building blocks of a cleaner and more secure energy system. With world-class assets and capabilities, and enhanced visibility of growth in transmission, SSE is ideally placed to benefit from this structural trend, creating value for shareholders and society.

“Our immediate focus is on delivering our financial and operational growth targets out to 2026/27 and we are on track to do this, converting our premium organic project pipeline into high-quality sustainable earnings.

“More broadly we continue to see a path to investing c.£40bn this decade assuming a supportive policy environment, helping speed up the clean energy transition and creating and supporting thousands more good jobs in the process."

The firm also says it contributed £6.8bn to UK and Irish GDP, including supporting more than 56,000 jobs both directly and in its supply chain.