Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chairman of SSE, said:
"As a business, SSE has a key role to play in addressing the energy 'trilemma' of security of supply, decarbonisation and affordability. That is a responsibility and privilege that this company does not take lightly. At times such as this, there is a great need for responsible companies which are committed to this country, committed to their customers and committed to financial discipline. SSE ticks all three boxes. The current debate about how to meet the country's energy needs at the lowest possible cost to consumers, while protecting the environment will hopefully lead to decisions that contribute to the long-term economic, social and environmental well-being of the UK and Ireland.
"Energy market conditions generally have been difficult for some time. SSE's balanced model of market-based and economically-regulated businesses means the company is in a good position to perform well even in testing environments such as this, and at times of greater uncertainty, SSE's commitment to operational and financial discipline is particularly important. In practice, that means helping Retail customers mitigate the impact of the increase in unit electricity and gas prices we unfortunately had to announce last month and also maintaining reliable supplies of electricity for our Networks customers through the winter months. When looking at future investments, it also means taking account of the fact that key questions on energy policy in the UK are not yet resolved.
"For this reason, we will work constructively with politicians of all the major parties, and that is what we are doing. Looking ahead, we believe that operational and financial discipline is the best way to ensure we can continue to fulfil our core purpose of providing the energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way and therefore remunerate shareholders for their investment with sustained real dividend growth."
See news.sse.com for the following blogs: Today is about customers - like every other day; We have an appetite for reform; and Why SSE pays dividends.
Finance - SSE group
For the six months to 30 September 2013 (comparisons with the same six months in 2012, unless otherwise stated):
Adjusted profit before tax* fell by 11.7% to £354.0m;
Adjusted earnings per share* fell by 17.4% to 29.4 pence;
Interim dividend increased by 3.2% to 26.0 pence per share;
Investment and capital expenditure increased by 15.0% to £804.3m; and
Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital rose by £450m to £7.8bn.
For 2013/14 as a whole, and as previously stated, SSE does not expect to provide an outlook for adjusted profit before tax* before the publication of its third quarter Interim Management Statement; however it remains on course to deliver a full year dividend increase for 2013/14 that is greater than RPI inflation and to deliver above-RPI inflation dividend increases in the years after that.
