Sse Share Discussion Threads

[gbb483] 03/6/2015 09:53

Unlikely - its more that the ECB don't want the hassle of a grexit, and they are wondering what the cost will be of avoiding it.

[philo124] 03/6/2015 09:36

Greeks are conning the ECB.

[wad collector] 03/6/2015 09:21

An impending grexit seems to be a perpetual state at the moment. Inevitable , but never quite happening.

[zcaprd7] 02/6/2015 15:03

I'm mostly in cash at the moment. Waiting for the grexit

[wad collector] 02/6/2015 14:38

The other way of phrasing the question is " Do you have a better place to put your money?"

[lord gnome] 01/6/2015 16:19

A good, long-term buy and hold dividend stock. One to trade if you are clever enough and can spot the highs and lows, zcaprd.

[zcaprd7] 01/6/2015 11:32

Hmm. In a quandary, tempted to hold on for the dividend (no logic there I know) but the momentum around the 52 week high seems to have fizzled out? Still a good yield at these levels, so not a bad place to park cash?Ridden these from the lows, thoughts?

[zcaprd7] 27/5/2015 16:30

Keep an eye on their broadband offering. Their deal is market leading... Good for churn reduction.

[bountyhunter] 23/5/2015 09:53

that info is at the end of the header Skinny

[johnroger] 22/5/2015 10:12

SSE – The results may be obscure and bewildering but the dividend looks very attractive
BY ROBERT SUTHERLAND SMITH May 21, 2015, 08:51 AM UTC

The first thing to report is that the SSE share price rose to 1,696p during the course of report day 20th May 2015; this is the highest the share price has been in five years. Consider it a nice capital gain with which to pay an energy bill that has not come down with the plunge in the wholesale price of gas and oil.
One of course should not be surprised by that, insofar as one might reasonably suppose that it should have been a year when profit margins improved somewhat. I turned to the announcement with more than the usual eagerness I experience in approaching the results of energy companies.
They occupy page after page that go on and on endlessly telling me much but containing little I readily understand. They looked, I thought rather miserably, as though they had been prepared by a multi disciplined team of PR operatives, lawyers and accountants, to consume those questing evidence of lower energy prices to come.
As I cut my way through the seemingly endless forest of obscure and – for my purpose – less than pertinent information about everything except the accounting numbers, I grew fatigued scrolling down the endless pages of stuff. Being a true son of Albion, I persisted and at long last, after endless scrolled pages, I came at long last, to the meat of the matter – the accounts themselves. It was like arriving at an oasis after weeks crossing parched desert sands.
Numbers were adjusted and restated, but on the basis of restated figures, it seems that net profits last year rose by 49% to £664 million and diluted earnings per share by 66% to a reported 55p. If that figure is to be relied upon, then the annual dividend of 88.4p is being substantially paid out of capital, which strikes me as unlikely; at least to the extent of 33.4p a share. The annual dividend by the way, was reported as up 1.9%.
Turning to the cash position in the hope of greater clarity, operating cash was down 15% to £2,156.9 million which fortunately, was still 3.3 times larger than the cost of £598.1 million annual dividend. The interesting question is to ask where that operating cash went? Scratching my head, I then had a look at the latest market consensus estimates to see how that dove tailed into the outcome.
They estimated that the underlying adjusted earnings per share figure was 124.1p, meaning that the 88.4p of dividend was being paid out of earnings not capital after all. Moreover, it was well covered. They also show that pre-tax profit was £735.4 million, not the company’s £664 million. Next year the consensus estimate is for pre-tax profits to increase 95% but earnings per share to come down 12% to 109p. Turnover is estimated as 4.3% lower, which does not seem to suggest a big reduction in energy prices to customers. The role of the ‘hybrid’ capital imported into the balance sheet in all this is no doubt significant.
The important aspect of all this, is that despite all the smoke and mirrors, the market consensus estimates that annual dividends should rise from 88.4p to 90.83p this year (a forward estimated dividend yield of 5.5%) and to 93.6p the next year (a dividend yield of 5.6%). The company is clearly intent on maintaining the real value of the dividend payout so the shares continue to be a no brainer attractive buy, in my opinion.

[zcaprd7] 20/5/2015 19:45

The highs are interesting from a technical point of view... Hopefully today was a retest and the breakout will continue.

[bountyhunter] 20/5/2015 17:55

...at least it's not cpi, and a 5%+ yield is excellent at a time of deflation, ...also as was mentioned earlier there is always the outside chance of a takeover especially now that the political landscape is more stable.

[pierre oreilly] 20/5/2015 15:44

2GW of dispatchable capacity will bring us nearer to winter powercuts. Still it's what the eu and our government want, hence the penalties for operating coal plant which makes them loss making (iirc sse said they'd lose £100m if Ferry was kept open). At 50 year's old it must be quite inefficient by today's standards and very expensive to maintain. the problem for consumers is that the reliable coal capacity is being replaced by windmills and solar, which are both intermittent and therefore about as useful as a chocolate teapot as far as a power matching grid is concerned.

I'd like to see sse go for at least a little bit more than rpi for the divi increases, although >5% divi is still pretty good these days.

[bountyhunter] 20/5/2015 13:48

header updated with divi info + investor timetable

[bountyhunter] 20/5/2015 13:45

Increasing the dividend for 2014/15

SSE's first financial responsibility to its shareholders is to give them a return on their investment through the payment of dividends. The Board is recommending a final dividend of 61.8p per share, to which a Scrip alternative is offered, compared with 60.7p in the previous year, an increase of 1.8%. This will make a full-year dividend of 88.4p per share which is: an increase of 2% compared with 2014/15, which is in line with RPI inflation; and covered 1.40 times by SSE's adjusted earnings per share*.

Targeting dividend increases of at least RPI inflation in 2015/16 and beyond

The stated financial goal of SSE's strategy is to deliver annual increases in the dividend and its target for 2015/16 onwards is to deliver annual dividend increases of at least RPI inflation (measured against the average annual rate of RPI inflation across each of the 12 months to March).

[skinny] 20/5/2015 07:51

SSE plc has completed the assessment of the longevity of its remaining coal-fired generation capacity that it announced in March 2015 and concluded that it should:

· close all of the remaining capacity (1,014MW) at Ferrybridge, Yorkshire by 31 March 2016; and
· enter all of the remaining capacity (1,995MW) at Fiddler's Ferry, Lancashire into the auction for electricity generation capacity at the end of 2015 (for delivery in 2019/20).

The outcome of the review is consistent with SSE's long-standing objective to transition its generation assets from a portfolio weighted towards gas and coal towards a portfolio more weighted towards gas and renewable sources of energy; and with the wider commitment to operational and financial discipline set out in March 2014.

more....

[skinny] 20/5/2015 07:49

Finance - SSE Group
The key financial results for the year to 31 March 2015 are in line with expectations set out in the Notification of Close Period published on the 26 March 2015 (comparisons with the previous year, unless otherwise stated):

· Adjusted earnings per share* increased by 0.6% to 124.1 pence;
· Adjusted profit before tax* increased by 0.9% to £1,564.7m;
· Reported profit before tax increased by 24.1% to £735.2m;
· Investment and capital expenditure fell by 6.8% to £1,475.3m;
· Adjusted net debt and hybrid capital decreased by £74.7m to £7,568.1m;
· Full-year dividend increased by 2% to 88.4 pence per share; and
· Dividend covered 1.40 times by adjusted earnings per share.

[philo124] 19/5/2015 22:26

wad, like UU I don't get the price rise past a certain level. SSE eps will be the same in 2017 as they were in 2010.

[wad collector] 19/5/2015 22:22

If you factor inflation into that 2008 peak , this current peak is still unimpressive. That was in the middle of a Brown Government .RPI was 25% lower in Jan 2008 so the equivalent peak is 2127p.
Clearly there are many assumptions in this projection , but the lower inflation rate now makes these a more impressive yielding share than 7 yrs ago. I like to trade , but am determined to sit on these. I think that a significant takeover possibility remains , though obviously there would be regulatory obstacles. The cash cow is attractive to more than just PIs I think.

[skinny] 19/5/2015 13:30

All time high @1702p on 8th Jan 2008.

Highest finish 1679p on10th Jan 2008.

Although the triple top going back to 21st May 2013 @1676p has been breached today.

[wad collector] 19/5/2015 13:20

I plan to ride these all the way up past £20 ..

[philo124] 15/5/2015 09:59

Sold a bit earlier, switched into Aviva.

[skinny] 15/5/2015 07:30

Deutsche Bank Hold 1,652.00 1,652.00 1,460.00 1,560.00 Reiterates