LONDON, May 14, 2026, 13:11 BST
SSE PLC lifted its profit guidance for the year ended March 31 after an accounting change limited loss recognition at Neos Networks, giving investors a cleaner, if not cash-backed, uplift ahead of full-year results due May 28. The Perth-based power networks and renewables group now expects adjusted earnings per share of 149p-154p, against 147p-152p flagged in April; it said the change should add 1.9p to adjusted earnings metrics and will not restate prior reported numbers.
The timing matters. SSE is trying to keep shareholders behind a heavy grid-build programme, and the May results will be read for debt, cash flow and delivery as much as for profit.
Adjusted earnings per share is a management profit measure, stated per share, that strips out items the company says can blur operating performance. Here, the uplift comes because SSE’s equity investment in Neos fell to nil, meaning the group can no longer book further Neos losses under IAS 28, the accounting rule covering associates and joint ventures.
The broader numbers are unchanged for now. SSE said in April that capital investment should be about £3.5 billion for 2025/26, while adjusted net debt and hybrid capital should be just over £10 billion at March 31. Networks investment was expected to be about 60% higher year on year, and renewable generation output about 14.5 terawatt hours, up roughly 10%.
SSE also said it will simplify reporting, cutting segmental reporting from 10 business lines to seven. Alternative performance measures, or APMs — company-defined numbers used alongside statutory accounts — will also be adjusted for non-controlling interests, though SSE said that debt-disclosure refinement does not change 2025/26 adjusted EPS expectations.
Shares in SSE were up 0.7% at 2,467p in London afternoon trade, with the stock trading between 2,455p and 2,475p on the day, according to Investing.com data. The move was modest; the market had already priced in a lot of the group’s shift toward regulated electricity networks.
Morningstar analyst Tancrede Fulop wrote in February, before the latest guidance tweak, that SSE shares looked “fairly valued” after a 53% rally since early September 2025. He kept a 2,480p fair value estimate and said networks investment remained the main earnings-growth driver. Morningstar
The competitive read is also about grids. National Grid, SSE’s larger UK networks peer, missed annual profit expectations on Thursday after higher U.S. storm-repair costs, but reaffirmed its outlook and saw its shares rise; Reuters reported the company has been reshaping itself around regulated electricity and gas networks.
SSE’s own strategy points the same way. In November, the company set out a £33 billion five-year investment plan, with about 80% earmarked for regulated UK electricity networks, including about £22 billion for transmission in the north of Scotland and about £5 billion for distribution networks. Chief Executive Martin Pibworth called the buildout a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to upgrade the UK electricity network. SSE
But the risk paragraph is not hard to find. This guidance rise is accounting, not cash. Higher-for-longer interest rates, supply-chain delays, planning slippage or weak renewable output could still pressure returns on a business that is lifting investment while carrying more than £10 billion of adjusted net debt and hybrid capital.
Rates are part of that backdrop. The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% in April in an 8-1 vote, with one policymaker backing a rise to 4%, and warned that Middle East energy-price uncertainty could still shape policy. Polymarket contracts priced an 86.5% chance of no change at the June meeting and 67% at the July meeting, suggesting traders see little near-term easing for capital-intensive infrastructure names.
For May 28, the question is therefore narrow and large at the same time: whether SSE can show enough operating cash and regulatory momentum to make a small EPS upgrade feel secondary. The accounting catch has moved the range. The investment case still rests on building the wires.
