SCOTTISH energy giant SSE has told the stock market it has taken “no decision” to break up the company.
SSE said it would update shareholders on its future plans in November, but stopped short of denying a potential split in the wake of media reports.
“There has been no decision to break up the SSE Group,” the company told the London Stock Exchange after a weekend of speculation over the future of the Perth-based business.
It added: “Following recent reshaping of the group, SSE’s clear strategic focus is on renewables and regulated electricity networks, supported by carefully chosen businesses.”
SSE sold its energy supply arm to Ovo Energy in 2020 for £500 million, jettisoning its consumer-facing business which had been one of the Big Six energy suppliers.
The split has reportedly been championed by Elliott Management, one of the world’s most influential activist investors.
According to The Telegraph, Elliott has convinced the board of SSE that it makes sense to split its wholesale energy business from the part that builds new wind turbines and other renewables.
Listing the renewables business on a stock exchange separately would allow it to raise money from investors to put into developments. It would also potentially help SSE reach its goal to triple renewable output by 2030.
SSE said its November update will let shareholders know how it plans to further accelerate growth.
This will include how to boost the amount it invests and how it will fund these investments, it said.
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SSE last month sold its stake in the business that runs the gas network in Scotland in a £1.2 billion deal that is expected to boost its renewables spending power.
It said then that it had agreed to sell its 33.33 per cent stake in Scotia Gas Networks to investors based in Canada as part of a programme to offload non-core assets, with the company expecting to achieve better returns from investing in the development of renewable assets such as windfarms and related infrastructure.
Among its green projects, SSE is building Dogger Bank windfarm off the Yorkshire coast, the Seagreen windfarm off Angus and the Viking onshore development in Shetland, and it bid for acreage in the ScotWind round with Marubeni, the Japanese industrial giant, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
The business told the City that “SSE will provide an update on its plans to further accelerate growth in its portfolio with its half year results in November, including details of significantly increased capital investment for the period to 2026, sources of funding and the company’s vision for further growth into the 2030s”.
“This will include ambitions for installed renewable and flexible capacity, as well as networks RAV projections. SSE’s businesses have exciting growth potential aligned with net zero targets and share common capabilities in the development, construction, financing, and operation of low-carbon electricity infrastructure.
"SSE is currently building more offshore wind than any company in the world, expanding internationally, and investing in the low-carbon electricity infrastructure that society needs.”
Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE chief executive, said: “We have been making excellent progress with our clear net zero-aligned strategy, centred on electricity networks, renewables and other carefully chosen businesses that help provide the low-carbon electricity infrastructure that Government and wider society requires.
“SSE is the UK’s national low-carbon energy champion, delivering for both our shareholders and society, and we look forward to updating investors on our plans to accelerate growth and create value in due course.”
Shares in SSE closed up 7p, 04 0.43% at 1,641.5p.
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