SSE hails '˜solid' start to year amid Brexit uncertainty

Power supplier SSE today said the UK's vote to leave the European Union could lead to more uncertainty in the financial and regulatory landscape over the coming years.

SSE said it was 'well placed' to meet the challenges ahead. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

But the Perth-based group insisted it was “well placed” to meet the challenges ahead as it reported a “solid” start to its new financial year.

In a trading update to coincide with the firm’s annual shareholder meeting, SSE also revealed that its total number of electricity and gas customer accounts across Great Britain and Ireland fell by 50,000 over the past year to stand at 8.16 million by the end of March.

Chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: “SSE has made a solid start to the financial year with continued focus on operational efficiency, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do and progressing long-term investments in the UK’s and Ireland’s energy infrastructure, including significant progress with the Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm and the new Caithness-Moray electricity transmission link.”

He added: “The outcome of the UK’s referendum on membership of the EU could lead to aspects of the financial, regulatory and political environment becoming more uncertain in the years ahead.

“Nonetheless, SSE’s balanced range of energy businesses and strategic focus on the delivery of efficient operations and investments, and meeting the needs of our customers, means that we remain well placed to fulfil both our core purpose, of providing energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way, and our financial objectives in the years ahead.”