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Investing.com -- National Grid PLC (LON:NG) on Thursday reported a 6% increase in underlying earnings per share to 29.8p for the six months ended September 30, beating analyst expectations as the company continues its record investment in energy infrastructure across the UK and US.
The power networks operator delivered underlying operating profit of £2.29 billion, up 13% from the same period last year at constant currency, driven by strong performance across its regulated businesses.
The company invested a record £5.1 billion during the half-year period, a 12% increase at constant currency, as it continues to expand and modernize its electricity networks.
"Our financial performance reflects another period of strong operational delivery in line with our five-year financial frame," said John Pettigrew, Chief Executive. "We continue to deliver for our customers, investing a record £5 billion this half, and we are on track to invest over £11 billion this year."
National Grid’s UK Electricity Transmission business saw underlying operating profit rise 17% to £846 million, while its US operations showed significant improvement with New York up 61% to £443 million and New England up 29% to £292 million.
These gains were partly offset by a 4% decline in UK Electricity Distribution profit to £551 million.
The company’s strong first-half performance has led management to indicate it expects full-year underlying EPS to be in line with its 6-8% growth target range from the 2024/25 baseline of 73.3p, despite headwinds from exchange rates. This suggests potential upside to the current analyst consensus estimate of 77.1p.
National Grid declared an interim dividend of 16.35p per share, representing a 3% increase from the previous year.
The company continues to streamline its portfolio, having completed the sale of National Grid Renewables and agreed to sell Grain LNG. It has also secured supply chain partnerships for more than three-quarters of its £60 billion five-year investment plan, including an £8 billion Electricity Transmission Partnership for substation construction and a £12 billion HVDC framework for civil works in the UK.
"This investment in our networks is critical to ensure continued resilience, enable economic growth, deliver cleaner energy, and meet growing power demand," Pettigrew added.