IAN Marchant, the chief executive of Scottish Hydro-Electric owner SSE, has dismissed City concerns the company has too large a presence north of the Border.

However, he said that the country’s future constitutional arrangements would be taken into account in any investment decisions.

Mr Marchant saw Perth-based SSE’s shares drop 26p, or 2%, yesterday to 1310p, after reveal- ing that underlying pre-tax profit plunged by 25.4% to £287.4 million.

He said the company was still on track to net a “moderate” 2% to 5% profit rise for the full-year, after pushing up household energy bills in September.

The company also announced a 7.1% hike in its interim dividend to 24p, which will be paid on March 23.

The position of energy companies in Scotland has come under scrutiny since major finance house Citigroup published a research note last week, claiming that the Scottish Government’s independence ambitions are incompatible with its plans to boost renewable power generation.

Citigroup also warned that SSE was overexposed to the renewables market north of the Border.

But Mr Marchant told The Herald: “I am very comfortable with our asset base.” He insisted independence “is a matter for voters and SSE is not a voter”.

Mr Marchant added: “The regulatory and political picture constantly moves at EU and UK level.

“We have always had to deal with that movement and we will have to deal with that in the future and issues around constitutional arrangements will become part of that assessment at some point.

“But we have got no opinion on constitutional matters.”

SSE said supplying energy was a loss-making enterprise in the six months to the end of September as it faced a 40% year-on-year rise in wholesale prices at a time of falling demand for energy. This will reverse in the current period after the company imposed an 18% rise in gas prices and 11% for electricity to boost the typical dual fuel bill to £1265 from £1094 from September 14.

Mr Marchant said: “Next summer’s (wholesale) prices look similar to this summer’s prices.”

SSE has pledged not to raise tariffs until August and he said any increase was likely to be “around inflation, if there is an increase at all”.

However, it was a strong period for SSE’s renewable energy generation, which was up 55% year-on-year, largely due to more favourable weather conditions for on and offshore wind power.

The company recently announced it was pulling out of a consortium to build a new nuclear power plant at Sellafield in Cumbria to focus on conventional and renewable generation.

The multi-million-pound repair bill for SSE’s troubled Glendoe hydroelectic plant near Loch Ness has been swollen by a decision to spend £10m to £20m to line part of a replacement tunnel to give it a longer lifespan.

SSE remains in dispute over whether it or contractor Hochtief should be the one who picks up the bill for the scheme, including its original £160m construction cost.

“Electricity generation should still resume towards the end of the first half of 2012,” SSE said.

The plant shut in August 2009 when a rockfall blocked a tunnel just two months after its official opening by the Queen.

SSE had initially hoped to reopen it within months.

Chairman Lord Robert said: “There is no doubt that 2011 has been characterised by turmoil in the global energy markets, economic uncertainty across much of the world and widespread concern about the financial outlook for customers, companies and countries. This is not a straightforward time in which to do business.”