Scottish Power has reported a near tripling of profits from its supply and conventional generation businesses in its financial results for 2018.
The company said the improved performance reflects a recovery from a difficult year in 2017. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) shot up from £94.7 million to £271.8 million.
Scottish Power finished the year with 3.01 million electricity and 2.01 million gas customers, meaning it gained around 130,000 electricity accounts and 110,000 gas accounts over the final quarter of 2018. Over the full year, the supplier lost around 60,000 electricity accounts and 20,000 gas accounts.
The company said it has “invested heavily to improve customer offerings”, installing 1.2 million smart meters and launching a smart electric vehicle (EV) charger as well as its first time-of-use tariff for EVs.
Meanwhile, EBIDTA from Scottish Power Renewables was up 33 per cent at £457.8 million.
Wind power production swelled to 4,568GWh – a 9 per cent increase on 2017 – following the completion of a £650 million investment programme to build eight new onshore windfarms in Scotland.
The company also began offshore construction work on the 714MW East Anglia One project in 2018. The first export of power is expected in 2019, with full operation beginning in 2020.
SP Energy Networks (SPEN) saw its EBITDA rise by 5 per cent to £813.4 million “in line with expectations” and against backdrop of “record levels of investment”.
Last year, nine new windfarms with a combined capacity of 628MW were connected to SPEN’s transmission network. Since the start of the RIIO T1 price control over 1.9GW of new renewable capacity has been connected to the network.
Responding to the results, Scottish Power chief executive Keith Anderson described 2018 as a “pivotal year” for the company as it completed the “landmark” journey to 100 per cent green power by selling its conventional generation business to Drax.
He added: “Scottish Power has changed and we are proud to be different to others in our sector. It’s clear our customers are backing our commitment to green energy and our investment in a cleaner healthier future as, unlike others, our overall customer numbers have remained stable in 2018.
“In 2018 all of our business areas performed in line with expectations demonstrating stability and growth.”
The results come a day after Scottish Power announced it was raising its standard variable tariff (SVT) in line with Ofgem’s revised price cap.
It joined fellow big six suppliers Eon, EDF, Npower and British Gas.