18 April 2024
National
Grid plc
Pre-Close
Update ahead of 2023/24 Full Year Results
National Grid today issues a
pre-close update ahead of announcing results for the year ended 31
March 2024 on 23 May 2024.
We now expect Underlying EPS for
2023/24 to be in line with the prior year, at actual exchange rates
and before the reporting change noted below.
In the 2023 Spring budget, the UK
Government introduced 'full expensing' tax relief for qualifying
capital expenditure to encourage greater levels of investment from
businesses. This change became permanent in November 2023.
To represent underlying profitability more
accurately, and to align with UK peers, we will now report
Underlying Earnings and Underlying EPS excluding the impact of
deferred tax in our UK Electricity Transmission and Distribution
businesses.
This reporting change will be
reflected in our 2023/24 Full Year results, which will lead to an
expected increase to Underlying EPS of around 8 pence per
share.
Further details will be provided in
our 2023/24 Full Year results, and a note on the change to our
definition of Underlying Earnings and Underlying EPS can be found
on the Investors section of our website
here¹.
Enquiries and contacts
Investors and Analysts:
Nick Ashworth
+44 (0) 7814 355 590
Angela Broad
+44 (0) 7825 351 918
James Flanagan
+44 (0) 7970 778 952
Media:
Dan Roberts,
Brunswick
+44 (0) 207 404 5959
Lyndsey Evans
+44 (0) 7714 672
052
[1]
https://www.nationalgrid.com/investors/resources/analyst-modelling
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
This announcement contains certain
statements that are neither reported financial results nor other
historical information. These statements are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. These statements include information with
respect to National Grid's (the Company) financial condition, its
results of operations and businesses, strategy, plans and
objectives. Words such as 'aims', 'anticipates', 'expects',
'should', 'intends', 'plans', 'believes', 'outlook', 'seeks',
'estimates', 'targets', 'may', 'will', 'continue', 'project' and
similar expressions, as well as statements in the future tense,
identify forward-looking statements. This document also references
climate-related targets and climate-related risks which differ from
conventional financial risks in that they are complex, novel and
tend to involve projection over long term scenarios which are
subject to significant uncertainty and change. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of National Grid's
future performance and are subject to assumptions, risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual future results to differ
materially from those expressed in or implied by such
forward-looking statements or targets. Many of these assumptions,
risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond National
Grid's ability to control, predict or estimate precisely, such as
changes in laws or regulations, including any arising as a result
of the current energy crisis, announcements from and decisions by
governmental bodies or regulators, including those relating to the
RIIO-T2 and RIIO-ED2 price controls and the proposals for the
future of system operation in the UK; the timing of construction
and delivery by third parties of new generation projects requiring
connection; breaches of, or changes in, environmental, climate
change and health and safety laws or regulations, including
breaches or other incidents arising from the potentially harmful
nature of its activities; network failure or interruption, the
inability to carry out critical non-network operations and damage
to infrastructure, due to adverse weather conditions including the
impact of major storms as well as the results of climate change,
due to counterparties being unable to deliver physical commodities,
or due to the failure of or unauthorised access to or deliberate
breaches of National Grid's IT systems and supporting technology;
failure to adequately forecast and respond to disruptions in energy
supply; performance against regulatory targets and standards and
against National Grid's peers with the aim of delivering
stakeholder expectations regarding costs and efficiency savings, as
well as against targets and standards designed to deliver net zero;
and customers and counterparties (including financial institutions)
failing to perform their obligations to the Company. Other factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
described in this announcement include fluctuations in exchange
rates, interest rates and commodity price indices; restrictions and
conditions (including filing requirements) in National Grid's
borrowing and debt arrangements, funding costs and access to
financing; regulatory requirements for the Company to maintain
financial resources in certain parts of its business and
restrictions on some subsidiaries' transactions such as paying
dividends, lending or levying charges; the delayed timing of
recoveries and payments in National Grid's regulated businesses,
and whether aspects of its activities are contestable; the funding
requirements and performance of National Grid's pension schemes and
other post-retirement benefit schemes; the failure to attract,
develop and retain employees with the necessary competencies,
including leadership and business capabilities, and any significant
disputes arising with National Grid's employees or the breach of
laws or regulations by its employees; the failure to respond to
market developments, including competition for onshore
transmission; the threats and opportunities presented by emerging
technology; the failure by the Company to respond to, or meet its
own commitments as a leader in relation to, climate change
development activities relating to energy transition, including the
integration of distributed energy resources; and the need to grow
the Company's business to deliver its strategy, as well as
incorrect or unforeseen assumptions or conclusions (including
unanticipated costs and liabilities) relating to business
development activity, including the sale of the Company's UK gas
transmission and metering business, its strategic infrastructure
projects and joint ventures and the separation and transfer of the
electricity system operator to the public sector. For further
details regarding these and other assumptions, risks and
uncertainties that may impact National Grid, please read the
Strategic Report section and the 'Risk factors' on pages 225 to 228
of National Grid's most recent Annual Report and Accounts, as
updated by National Grid's unaudited half-year financial
information for the six months ended 30 September 2023 published on
9 November 2023. In addition, new factors emerge from time to time
and National Grid cannot assess the potential impact of any such
factor on its activities or the extent to which any factor, or
combination of factors, may cause actual future results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
Except as may be required by law or regulation, the Company
undertakes no obligation to update any of its forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this
announcement.