MARKET TALK: BofA-Merrill Lynch Cuts Scottish & Southern

8th Jun 2010 08:58

0758 GMT [Dow Jones] BofA-Merrill Lynch downgrades Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE.LN) to neutral from buy and target to 1175p from 1350p. The company confirmed it will no longer have a material stake in the vehicle bidding in the auction for Electricite de France's (EDF.FR) UK electricity network assets. Says this dilutes what the brokerage viewed as a key catalyst for the shares in the short term. Thinks the investment story will now be dominated once more by the challenging energy market conditions, which should result in pedestrian earnings growth at best for the next two years. Shares -0.9% at 1064p. ([email protected]) Contact us in London. +44-20-7842-9464 [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 08, 2010 03:58 ET (07:58 GMT)