Sse Share Discussion Threads

[minerve] 04/10/2017 14:42

veryniceperson

"And you really think it will be cheaper?"

Cheaper than what? The next 'ACME' company who is prepared to offer it for next to nothing because they buy a contract at the spot price and run a chicken shed full of half-wits on phones? OK, so they get the business. The directors pay themselves a fat salary and nobody shares 'the value' you have created for them because they are not a listed company. Your action has removed the opportunity for someone like Centrica to use part of your revenue for infrastructural investment and for dividends to shareholders (many of which are pensioners - you'll be one of those one day). So by choosing Acme you have increased the burden on the network and on the costs of retirement for all - to save a few quid for yourself. Well done! Clever! Smart! Cheaper, you ask, yes, of course _generally_ and _overall_ it will be. Eventually. You've removed parasites from the system. But it is an intangible. Something you can't exactly price unless you look at it holistically. As somebody said: "they know the price of everything but the value of nothing" - quite true, sadly.

[veryniceperson] 04/10/2017 14:29

And you really think it will be cheaper?

[minerve] 04/10/2017 14:00

"OFGEM have interpreted the Electricity Act to mean that market-wide price caps should be a matter decided in Parliament. OFGEM would also expect an appeal to the appeals body – the CMA or perhaps even the CAT - and seek to avoid this."

Courtesy of FT.

[minerve] 04/10/2017 14:00

pogue

Quote me where I say that PFI contracts will be bought back.

[db125] 04/10/2017 13:47

Looks like Theresa is after the Corbyn vote. That dead woman walking has stumbled again.

[pogue] 04/10/2017 13:42

Minerve you did not answer my questions I posed after your reply you never replied to PFI you claim so why you dodging the question? How does that actually benefit anyone paying all the money up front to get out the contract and now you introduce a moan about London centricity what's that got to do with things its just a tired political slogan thrown in to change the subject, sorry mate you are a Corbyn cheerleader despite your extensive experience of whatever you choose to tell me, lets wait for 5 years and see what happens.

In general reply to the cap the Tories have just brought back up its just another set of politicians interfering to get votes and not solve a problem. All this means is that the price of electricity will go up for all those that dont switch regularly if the government chooses to then regulate those prices then investment will fall and we will have a power shortage just as their flagship green policy of making everyone use electric cars starts to gain traction. All predictable even the regulator says its a bad idea. Get out of electricity while you can is my advice both parties are using it as a vote winner its not going away.

[wllmherk] 04/10/2017 13:31

Worst case scenario, Corbyn gets elected and nationalises SSE, CNA etc, how does he decide how much to pay, any offer to buy any company has to be voted on and agreed by shareholders, they cant just take your shares can they, surely that would be illegal ?

wllm

[alphorn] 04/10/2017 13:21

I am not sure that price control is legal at this moment?

[mach100] 04/10/2017 13:07

If the Cap fit's , where it? More like a straitjacket on the share price Aren't Caps counter-productive in reducing competition and all firms gravitate towards being just under or at it? The sterility of thinking knows no bounds.

[minerve] 04/10/2017 12:57

Thanks wad.

[wad collector] 04/10/2017 12:55

Cease fire gentlemen.
The share price just plunged as May announced the promised price cap bill to be drafted next week. Not sure that is really news , but market doesn't like it.

[minerve] 04/10/2017 12:53

pogue

From Hargreaves Lansdown today (See my highlights ➡️013;️):

"Published by
The Guardian

➡️ Postal workers are on the verge of a strike in a dispute over pensions ⬅️, pay and conditions.

➡️ The Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced on Tuesday that a majority of its 111,000 members ⬅️ in Royal Mail had voted for industrial action, the first since the company was privatised four years ago.

The union said 73.7% of its members had turned out to vote, with 89% of them backing a walkout. Its executive will meet this week to determine any potential strike dates, which are likely to come before the end of the year.

The vote was a major test for the union after the introduction of the government’s controversial Trade Union Act, which requires strike ballots to have a 50% turnout.

It comes amid a flurry of union activity this autumn as public sector and health workers discuss the possibilities of industrial action.

Dave Ward, the CWU general secretary, said: “This is an important moment and we can go forward into any action knowing we have secured the numbers required. We have seen an unprecedented response from our members, and we are taking a lot of confidence from this result.

“Our members are under attack. They are being asked to work faster, harder and cheaper while losing benefits. This has nothing to do with driving growth and innovation. It is all about a lack of forward thinking and asset stripping.”

Royal Mail said it was very disappointed by the ballot result, which did not necessarily mean a strike would take place.

“There are no grounds for industrial action. We want to reach agreement. Royal Mail is committed to further talks as a matter of urgency, to reach agreement with the CWU,” the company said.

Royal Mail said contractual dispute resolution procedures agreed to by the company and the CWU meant the dispute would be escalated to independent external mediation, “which we expect will take close to Christmas to be completed, and maybe longer”.

It added: “We believe these dispute resolution procedures must be followed. The union cannot take industrial action until they have been completed.”

The CWU announced last month that it would be balloting members who worked for Royal Mail group and claimed there were plans to worsen terms and conditions of existing employees and introduce a two-tier workforce.

➡️ However, it is the pensions row ⬅️ that is at the heart of the dispute, after Royal Mail announced it wanted to end the defined-benefit scheme.


➡️ In April, the company announced that the pension plan, which has 90,000 members and assets of £7.4bn ⬅️, was in surplus, but said the scheme would soon become unaffordable.

➡️ The company, which was privatised in October 2013, pays £400m a year into the fund but it says this could rise to more than £1bn in 2018.⬅️;

The scheme, which was closed to new members in 2008, guarantees a pension based on a postal worker’s average salary. Royal Mail is thought to have plans to replace it with a less generous defined-contribution scheme.

➡️ In a move that may be copied by other unions, the vote followed a campaign by the CWU called the “four pillars”, which calls for a decent wage in retirement ⬅️, a shorter working week, a redesign of the company’s methods and an extension of current agreements.

The union has held a series of “gate meetings” outside sorting offices to gain support among members before the ballot.

Royal Mail argues it is operating in the most competitive delivery market in the world, with 16 major competitors including Amazon, which handles one in 10 parcel deliveries.

Letter volumes have declined 40% in the past 10 years as people increasingly prefer email. Royal Mail says it has spent £1.5bn on upgrading its IT systems to cope with the new world of technology. After 12 months in the job, postal workers earn £22,764 a year.

Royal Mail says under its proposed scheme, someone aged 50, earning £25,000 a year and retiring at 65 would retire on an annual pension of £12,300 and a tax-free lump sum of £81,800. It says this compares favourably with most other retirement deals"


So. As I was saying. What do you think would happen if the government offered anything less than par for pensionable assets during nationalisation? Pension funds assets would fall. That would mean those assets would not match future pension liabilities/promises. Unions would act like they are now as assets 'held on their behalf' would be under severe threat. As for whether SSE is held in pension funds - the answer is most likely. I don't have definite proof although I guess it could be found. The brokerage firm I used to sell my holding of my company's shares also managed pension fund assets. They heavily invested in bonds but also in UK infrastucture shares like NG., SSE and other utilities because not only were they relatively low risk pension scheme rules limited other types of equities. Why do you think sovereign wealth funds like UK infrastuctural investments?

So please, I think your comment is tosh and if a senior labour MP was talking about it I think he/she was talking tosh too. It wasn't Abacus Abbot was it?

[minerve] 04/10/2017 11:32

pogue

I believe I answered your question which you have ignored. He will borrow the money. They also plan to set-up a National Investment Bank and regional investment banks in order to fund local development and raise capital etc.. Seems perfect sense to me. Why should everything be so London centric? What are they scared of? I know. Do you?

If you actually read the manifesto - I always read the 3 major parties' - you will learn that their nationalization plan is piecemeal and in-part partial - not full. Go and read.

As far as PFI contracts, I never said they would buy them back. Please quote where I said that.

[alphorn] 04/10/2017 11:31

Consistent success in the past is a predictor of the future.


In so far as SSE is concerned I have reduced and will sit out the remainder.

[11_percent] 04/10/2017 11:22

This ain't good, down 36p.

[pogue] 04/10/2017 11:02

lol I asked you straight questions on how Corbyn would manage the obvious problems of paying for the nationalisation of so many companies and how buying back PFI contracts will work and your answer appears to be you trust Corbyn based on your experience. To me that tells me you don't have an answer never mind know it. I will stick with my reasoned arguments in the absence of a reasoned argument back.

[minerve] 04/10/2017 10:36

pogue

Experience doesn't mean you can accurately predict all future events but those in the field of oil will fair better day by day than those with no experience - guaranteed.

I am not boasting about my past. That is your inferiority complex. I am just stating that I am very experienced in these matters. Take it or leave it. Most idiots today don't value expertise or experience. That is their loss not mine. I am OK Jack, I am financially independent and have been for decades. I am happy to watch idiots like you come and go in life, and here on ADVFN. You are 'for the birds', insignificant and irrelevant to my life and its future.

[veryniceperson] 04/10/2017 10:09

Think Railtrack, not sure that worked out well for the private invester. You may put me right if I'm wrong.

[miss womble] 04/10/2017 09:06

Have we not had sufficient political banter yet?

[call-logger] 04/10/2017 07:32

The main reason the rail industry was nationalised was because the government could not afford to upgrade it.

you meant privatised, presumably?