- SSE reports £829.5 million of pre-tax profit in the fiscal first half.
- The board declares 24.4 pence per share of interim dividend.
- SSE forecasts up to 85 pence per share of annual adjusted earnings.
In a report on Wednesday, SSE plc (LON: SSE) said that its profit in the fiscal first half came in stronger than last year. Its underlying performance, however, remained under pressure in recent months due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 1.4 million people in the United Kingdom and caused over 52 thousand deaths.
SSE plc slid close to 1.5% on market open on Wednesday but jumped 2.5% in the next hour. At £13.87 per share, it is now about 6% down year to date in the stock market after recovering from a low of £10.73 per share in the first week of April. The price action will come in handy if you are interested in investing your money in the stock market.
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SSE values exceptional gains at £327 million in H1
The energy company reported £829.5 million of pre-tax profit in the first six months that concluded on 30th September. In comparison, it had posted a lower £128.9 million of pre-tax profit in the same period last year. SSE valued exceptional gains in H1 at £327 million primarily attributed to disposals.
But adjusted operating profit, the FTSE 100 listed company said, slipped to £418.3 million in the fiscal first half versus the year-ago figure of a much higher £491.9 million. According to SSE, its operating profit saw a £115 million hit in H1 due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
SSE declared 24.4 pence per share of interim dividend on Wednesday that matched its forecast given in September. Earlier this year, however, the company had predicted 24 pence per share of interim dividend.
SSE’s guidance for fiscal 2021
For fiscal 2021, the Perth-based company said that it now forecasts its per-share earnings to fall in the range of 75 pence to 85 pence on an adjusted basis. The COVID-19 crisis, SSE plc added, is likely to result in a close to £200 million hit this year.
In separate news from the United Kingdom, Unilever said it expects meat and dairy alternatives’ sales to hit £890 million over the next five to seven years.
SSE plc performed largely upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of roughly 40%. At the time of writing, it is valued at £14.40 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 34.01.
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