National Grid profits rise as investment ramps up

(Sharecast News) - National Grid reported a 20% rise in both statutory and underlying pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 March on Thursday, as strong regulated performance, particularly in New York, offset the dilutive impact of a recent rights issue. Statutory profit before tax rose to £3.65bn on operating profit of £4.93bn, while underlying profit before tax reached £4.07bn.

Underlying earnings per share rose 2% to 73.3p, slightly ahead of guidance, while the total dividend was maintained at 46.72p, representing a 3.2% increase on a rebased basis.

The FTSE 100 energy infrastructure group said it invested a record £9.85bn over the year, up 20%, as it advanced work on its UK and US energy infrastructure programmes, including all six Wave 1 ASTI projects and the Smart Path Connect transmission upgrade in upstate New York.

It also connected 2.2 GW of renewable generation in the UK and replaced more than 350 miles of ageing gas pipes in the US.

National Grid said it has now secured the supply chain and delivery model for more than two-thirds of its planned £60bn capital investment over the next five years.

The company reaffirmed guidance for 6% to 8% annual growth in underlying earnings per share from the new baseline, and said it expected continued strong operational performance in the year ahead.

Regulatory gearing stood at 61%, and was expected to trend higher as investment ramped up under the RIIO-T3 framework.

Divestments of National Gas Transmission and the Electricity System Operator were complete, and a sale agreement had been reached for National Grid Renewables.

"We've made significant progress in the first year of our five-year financial framework, with record capital investment of almost £10bn, 20% higher than 2024, helping to drive regulated asset growth of around 10% this year," said chief executive officer John Pettigrew.

"Strong performance across all areas of the business underpins our plans to successfully invest £60bn over five years."

Pettigrew said that at a time of international economic uncertainty, National Grid was providing "stable and predictable growth" through its "resilient" business model.

"We remain focused on delivering secure, affordable and clean energy to our customers and communities, and providing long-term value and returns for our shareholders."

At 0812 BST, shares in National Grid were up 2.02% at 1,036.01p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.