The company defended the figures and said that the increase reflected market conditions.
Lord Smith of Kelvin, chairman of SSE said: “The prices achieved for generating electricity have been weak, and higher gas and non-energy costs unfortunately had to be reflected in the increase in household energy prices which SSE implemented last month.”
He went on to say that the company’s household energy supply business, which returned to profitability over the period by making £48.7 million, accounted for 8 per cent of total operating profit.
Responding to SSE’s half-year figures, Adam Scorer, director of policy and external affairs at Consumer Focus, said: “Energy companies need to make profit so they can invest in our energy infrastructure. But if confidence is to be rebuilt in this market, the information that all energy firms are required to provide must be fully transparent, comparable, and include profit and trading information from across the whole of their business.”