London, May 14, 2026, 14:08 BST
National Grid plc missed annual profit forecasts on Thursday as U.S. storm repair costs rose, but its shares gained after the company kept its growth outlook and set out at least £70 billion of network investment over five years.
The UK electricity and gas network operator posted adjusted operating profit of £5.68 billion for the year ended March 31, below a company-compiled consensus of £5.75 billion. Storm-related costs in its U.S. business rose 7.4% to £636 million, while the shares were up 2.3% at 1,305 pence by 0846 GMT.
That is why the timing matters. National Grid is moving into RIIO-T3, the UK regulatory price-control period that sets allowed revenues and investment rules for energy networks from April 2026 to March 2031. In plain terms, it is the framework that decides how much regulated grid firms can spend and recover from customers over time.
The company said it plans at least £70 billion of capital investment through 2030/31, targeting about 10% annual asset growth and 8% to 10% growth in underlying earnings per share, a profit measure that strips out some one-off and accounting effects. Underlying EPS rose 8% at constant currency to 78.0 pence in 2025/26.
Chief Executive Zoë Yujnovich called it the “largest investment programme in our history,” aimed at modernising and expanding networks in the UK and the U.S. Northeast. The company also reported record capital investment of £11.6 billion for the year. Investegate
Still, the miss was real. Weather costs in the United States have become harder to ignore, and a bigger asset base can mean bigger exposure when storms hit New England and New York.
National Grid said statutory operating profit rose 10% to £5.43 billion and lifted its full-year dividend 3.8% to 48.49 pence a share. It completed the sales of National Grid Renewables and Grain LNG during the year, bringing in £2.8 billion of net cash proceeds as it narrowed its focus toward regulated networks.
The peer read is less about head-to-head competition and more about who can deliver grid buildouts without straining balance sheets. Ofgem lists National Grid Electricity Transmission for England and Wales alongside ScottishPower Transmission and Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission, part of SSE’s network business, as Britain’s electricity transmission owners under the same RIIO-3 cycle.
Rates remain another pressure point. Polymarket traders priced an 89% chance that the Bank of England leaves Bank Rate unchanged at its June 18 meeting, but a separate market put the chance of a 2026 BoE hike at about 58%; that matters for a capital-heavy utility even though National Grid says around 80% of its total debt book is fixed-rate.
Analysts sounded steady, not euphoric. RBC Capital Markets analyst Alexander Wheeler wrote that net debt of £44.2 billion was above the £43.3 billion consensus, though overall results were in line, while Hargreaves Lansdown’s Aarin Chiekrie wrote that National Grid was relatively insulated from Middle East-related energy shocks because of limited wholesale energy exposure and inflation-linked revenues.
Yujnovich told Reuters that geopolitical tensions and U.S. tariffs had limited impact, with about 90% of procurement for the U.S. business sourced locally. That gives some cover, but not a guarantee: heavier storms, higher borrowing costs or delays in the £70 billion programme could still test cash flow as spending steps up.
For now, investors appear to be looking past the storm bill. National Grid kept its 2026/27 target for underlying EPS growth of 13% to 15%, helped by higher allowed revenue as it shifts from RIIO-T2 to RIIO-T3.
