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National Grid has announced a 1% rise in its underlying operating profit, fuelled by the increase in US Regulated profits.
In its half year report to the end of September 2019, underlying operating profit reached £1.3bn while underlying earnings per share was up 2% to 20.0p due to a US tax settlement relating to prior periods.
Capital investment £2.7bn up 28% driven by increase in US capital spend and £0.2bn Geronimo acquisition.
The interim dividend stands at 16.57p per share.
The company also announced a new target to achieve net zero on its own emissions by 2050.
Chief Executive of National Grid, John Pettigrew, said: In the first half of this year we have delivered solid financial performance and continued to deliver strong organic growth at the top end of the 5 to 7% range. We also made good progress on our strategic priorities, including agreeing a multi-year, forward rate case in Massachusetts Electric, submitting our draft business plans for RIIO-2 in the UK and completed our acquisition of Geronimo. In the second half, we are progressing our priorities across the Group including addressing the gas supply constraint in downstate New York. Today's announcement that we are increasing the Group's own emissions reduction target from 80% to net zero by 2050 underlines our commitment to lead the industry towards a cleaner energy future. This objective will be supported by work in other areas, such as offering further energy efficiency programmes for our US customers, proposals for renewable natural gas and hydrogen blending programmes."