SSE has reported a 26% year-on-year rise in its renewable energy output through the first nine months of its financial year.

The Scottish energy group said this reflected the impact from “capacity additions and weather conditions”, in a trading updated covering the three-month period to 31 December.

Despite the upturn in operational performance, SSE still warned that its full-year earnings outturn remains “subject to a number of factors” over the remainder of Q4, including weather, market conditions, and plant performance.

The energy company is expecting its adjusted earnings per share for 2024/25 to be between 154-163p, while its business unit operating profit expectations are unchanged.

“We are pleased to report good operational performance during the quarter and, more recently, we were able to provide a swift and effective response to Storm Eowyn, with our teams expertly managing widespread network disruption,” said SSE chief financial officer (CFO), Barry O’Regan.

“Looking further ahead, our resilient and balanced business mix continues to give us confidence in achieving targeted adjusted earnings per share of between 175-200p in 2026/27.”

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, commented that SSE was “well positioned”, having aligned itself with the UK’s clean energy policy.

“While it is a positive that favourable weather and increased capacity helped to boost renewable energy generation in the current financial year, it is also a reminder that SSE is at the mercy of increasingly unpredictable meteorological conditions in the UK,” Mould added.

“The company managed to respond quickly to the impact of Storm Eowyn but it is likely to have more of these types of event to contend with in the future.

“While SSE waits for the benefits of its long-term investment plan to come through, it will need to balance capital expenditure plans with rewarding shareholders for their patience with a steady stream of dividends and buybacks. This puts an onus on financial discipline and ensuring the costs on individual projects do not overrun.”

---