National Grid PLC (LSE:NG.) shareholders will be eager to see next Thursday if the grid operator can deliver on its promise to pivot away from ‘low growth’ gas to electricity delivery.
The grid operator is expected to release its results for the half year fiscal period ending at the end of September on Thursday 9 November.
National Grid’s Chief Executive Officer John Pettigrew outlined the company’s prospects for its expanded electricity distribution business during a speech at the company’s London headquarters in July.
He said £100 million of “synergies” would be delivered over three years following the integration of Western Power Distribution, which National Grid bought in 2021, into the heart of its business.
National Grid improved its growth outlook in July, as a result of increased exposure to electricity following the acquisition, Pettigrew said.
He explained that National Grid had pivoted from low growth gas transmission to “more visible longer-term growth in electricity”.
“We’ve a critical role to play at the heart of the energy transition,” Pettigrew said in his speech, adding that the UK is forecast to double electricity demand by 2050.
The grid operator has introduced a five-year price control mechanism (RIIO-ED2) in its electricity distribution segment, targeting 100 to 125 basis points of outperformance over those five years.
In May, it posted £7.24 billion of total comprehensive income for fiscal year 2023 in its consolidated earnings statement for the period ending 31 March, up from £4.83 billion a year earlier.