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.