London, May 18, 2026, 14:06 BST
SSE PLC shares rose in London afternoon trade on Monday, clawing back part of Friday’s sharp fall as UK electricity stocks steadied with the wider market. Barclays/Refinitiv delayed data showed SSE up 1.63% at 2,308p to sell and 2,309p to buy at 13:48 BST, while the FTSE 100 was up 0.98% and the electricity sector rose 1.42%. Barclays
The bounce matters because the previous session was ugly. SSE closed at 2,271p on Friday after a 7.65% drop, with volume of 9.31 million shares, leaving investors to decide whether Monday is a repair trade or the start of a calmer run into results. Investing.com UK
Utilities are often treated as bond proxies — income stocks bought for steady dividends, so they can suffer when government bond yields rise. UK midcaps still fell on Monday as inflation worries and political uncertainty hung over the market; James Smith, developed markets economist for the UK at ING, said the “political centre of gravity is likely to shift left,” while adding that politicians know “there are limits.” Reuters
The pressure is not only domestic. Reuters reported on Monday that fresh Gulf attacks had pushed oil prices and bond yields higher, with the Strait of Hormuz still heavily disrupted; George Lagarias, chief economist at Forvis Mazars, said markets were “pricing the possibility” that the waterway stays closed. Reuters
For SSE, the next company event is close. The Perth-based power networks and renewables group is due to publish preliminary results for the 12 months ended March 31 on May 28. SSE
The numbers will come with a wrinkle. In a May 13 notice, SSE said an accounting treatment for Neos Networks meant it could no longer recognise further losses once the carrying value of that equity investment had fallen to nil, lifting its 2025/26 adjusted earnings per share guidance to 149p-154p from 147p-152p. Adjusted earnings per share is profit per share after removing some items the company says distort underlying performance; SSE said the Neos change added 1.9p, while guidance for adjusted net debt and hybrid capital stayed just over 10 billion pounds. MarketScreener
The April trading update gave the operating backdrop. SSE said renewable generation output for 2025/26 should be about 14.5 terawatt hours, up 10% year on year, while regulated networks businesses were expected to deliver about a 60% rise in capital investment; group capital investment was expected at around 3.5 billion pounds. SSE
That keeps the focus on execution of SSE’s 33 billion pound, five-year investment plan. SSE says 80% of the programme is aimed at regulated electricity networks, with about 22 billion pounds going into the high-voltage transmission network in northern Scotland; Chief Executive Martin Pibworth called the grid upgrade a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” and described the plan as “focused, disciplined and comprehensively funded.” SSE
Peer moves show this was not just an SSE move. National Grid, another UK electricity-network owner, traded 2.27% higher at 1,215p on Monday after falling 7.94% on Friday, a similar rebound from the utility selloff. Trading Economics
But the rebound can fail. Higher gilt yields — the returns demanded on UK government debt — and elevated oil prices can pull buyers away from debt-heavy, dividend-paying utilities; on Friday Reuters reported that utilities, “often treated as a bond proxy,” lost 7.5%, while Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said markets would not like the prospect of looser fiscal policy. Reuters
For now, Monday’s move is only a partial repair. The May 28 results need to show that stronger renewables output and network spending are feeding through into cash, debt control and dividend confidence, not just a cleaner adjusted EPS line.
