SSE chief executive stepping down as renewables boost Scottish energy giant

Alistair Phillips-Davies plans to step down from the Perth-headquartered group during 2025 after more than 11 years at the helm. A “thorough and extensive” recruitment process for his successor has now kicked off. SSE stressed that Phillips-Davies - one of the FTSE-100’s longest serving CEOs - would remain in place until a successor is appointed “to ensure a smooth and orderly transition”.

The announcement came as the group unveiled a solid set of interim results and said it continued to pump billions of pounds into the UK’s energy transition with major investments in wind and renewable energy projects across the country.

At a headline level, adjusted operating profit surged 24.1 per cent to £860.2 million over the six months to the end of September, compared with the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share - a key measure for the group and investors - jumped 34.6 per cent to 49.8p on an adjusted basis, with an interim dividend of 21.2p being declared, marking a 6 per cent increase on the first half of 2023.

Phillips-Davies said: “This is a strong set of interim results including delivery of higher-quality earnings and the mission-critical infrastructure that shows SSE is at the heart of the clean energy transition. We are encouraged by the increasing attractiveness of our main markets and our alignment with the new UK government’s mission to achieve clean power by 2030.

“SSE will be a key delivery partner with our circa £20 billion investment programme and the scale and quality of our project pipeline that spans renewables, electricity networks and flexible power plants - which will all be required to make clean power a reality.”

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, noted: “SSE’s powering along nicely and should continue thanks to the foundations built by group CEO Alistair Philips-Davies.

“Turning to business performance, and climate-focused investors will be pleased to hear that renewable energy output rose 45 per cent in the first half. The uplift was helped by increased capacity, higher prices and an easy comparative period as last year’s performance was held back by unfavourable weather conditions.

“Turbo-charging focus on renewables is a bold and admirable move, but the shift comes with a hefty dose of risk - they’re not always reliable. That’s why more flexible gas-fired plants are still part of the energy mix and can help plug the shortfall in energy output when the wind doesn’t blow in SSE’s favour.”

Warm This Winter spokesperson Caroline Simpson added: “How is it fair that energy companies keep raking in millions in profits? We know SSE made over £7bn since the start of the energy crisis whilst there are 6.5 million in fuel poverty and all of us are paying 60 per cent more on our energy bills than we did three years ago.

“The public knows the only way the UK will bring down bills in the long-term is by harnessing our renewable energy sources and properly investing in home insulation to free us from volatile fossil fuels for good.”