11 November 2008
Gas and electricity provider Scottish & Southern Energy is set to announce a fall in profits for the six months to September, it has been reported.
The company's chief executive Ian Marchant is expected to tell investors that despite putting up its gas and electricity prices this summer, the company's interim profits will be "substantially lower" than in previous years.
Indeed, the company 's profits are predicted to be down by more than half - from £665 million last year to £293 million this year.
High wholesale gas prices, which the energy provider claims it absorbed for months before passing them on to consumers, have been blamed.
Merrill Lynch energy analyst Fraser McLaren told Scotland on Sunday: "Generation and supply profitability needs to be significantly higher in the second half in order to meet full-year expectations."
Scottish & Southern Energy joined the other five main gas and electricity companies and raised its gas bills by 29% and its electricity bills by 19% in August.
Meanwhile, the company has teamed up with waste management firm Shanks to make a solid fuel made from household waste.