SSE's first half profits hurt by loss at retail arm

13th Nov 2013 07:32

- Pre-tax profit in first half falls 11.7 per cent- Retail arm makes operating loss- Dividend raised 3.2 per centBritish electric utility group SSE posted a fall first half profits reflecting "difficult" energy market conditions. Adjusted pre-tax profit declined 11.7% to £354m in the six months ended September 30th and adjusted earnings per share fell 17.4% to 29.4p.The company's retail arm, which supplies energy to homes, made an operating loss of £89.4m, reflecting higher wholesale gas, distribution, rising environmental and social costs and lower consumption during the spring and summer season.In October the group announced it was raising household gas and electricity bills by over 8.2% to help counter the expected loss in its retail business."Energy market conditions generally have been difficult for some time," Chairman Lord Smith said in the company's half-year interim statement. "SSE's balanced model of market-based and economically-regulated businesses means the company is in a good position to perform well even in testing environments such as this, and at times of greater uncertainty, SSE's commitment to operational and financial discipline is particularly important. "In practice, that means helping Retail customers mitigate the impact of the increase in unit electricity and gas prices we unfortunately had to announce last month and also maintaining reliable supplies of electricity for our Networks customers through the winter months."The interim dividend increased by 3.2% to 26p. RD