© Reuters Jeffrey Smith
Investing.com — Shares of SSE (LON:) climbed to a new all-time high on Friday after the UK-based power producer raised earnings expectations.
SSE said it now expects earnings per share to be around 150p for the year to March.
Shares of SSE jumped 2.5% on the news, hitting a seven-week high.
“SSE has performed well in a changing and volatile energy landscape, highlighting its balanced business mix and strength in asset quality,” said Treasury Director Gregor Alexander in a statement.
The upgrade reflects recent declines in futures prices for electricity and gas, which has reduced the cost of buying back hedges against future commitments, the company said. As of January 18, almost a quarter of the Group’s available liquidity was bound by such contracts.
SSE also said there was “more clarity” on the UK government’s plans to impose a windfall tax on energy company profits. In her latest budget in November, the government introduced a 45% tax on excess profits for power producers.
About two-thirds of SSE’s electricity came from offshore wind farms, which had to run more than expected this year despite higher fuel prices, as output from offshore wind projects was more than 20% below plan. Coming from the power plant.
