SCOTTISH Hydroelectric owner SSE is facing renewed challenges after losing another 160,000 customers and issuing a fresh profit warning.
The Perth-based giant said the total number of its customers for gas and electricity in the GB household market fell to 5,880,000 at December 31 from 6,040,000 at the end of the preceding quarter amid competition from new market entrants.
The company also warned annual profits could be around eight per cent lower than expected after the EU ruled in November a scheme to support generators was unlawful on state aid grounds.
Read more: Profits plunge at SSE as challenges mount
SSE said it may not receive £60 million expected under the Capacity Market scheme, which pays firms to provide back-up power for periods of high demand. This was suspended following an EU Court of Justice judgement in November.
Adjusted earnings per share for the year to March 31 could be 6p lower than expected in November, at 64p to 69p against 70p to 75p.
SSE issued profit warnings in September and July, reflecting factors such as the expected impact of the introduction of the energy price cap, lower wind-farm output and high wholesale gas prices.
In December the group scrapped a controversial plan to merge its retail arm with npower citing the likely impact of challenging market conditions.
Read more: SSE shares fall after merger deal with npower scrapped
SSE said yesterday it is considering options including a demerger or sale of the retail business. If none of these is found to be viable it may keep the business.
Chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: “We continue to make good progress in our core businesses of regulated energy networks and renewable energy.”
Read more: SSE sells windfarm stakes in bid to appease investors
He said SSE had created value for shareholders recently by selling stakes in its telecoms business and wind farms in Scotland for around £1bn.
SSE shares closed down 2.5p at 1171p.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here