The proposed financial package put forward by energy regulator Ofgem, effectively governing how much National Grid (NG.) can charge for access to its gas and electricity supply infrastructure, could reduce the amount the latter returns to shareholders.

The company says it is disappointed with the proposals, which was announced on 18 December and which would come into effect from 2021. Ofgem has proposed baseline cost of equity returns at 4%, down 50% from previous price controls. This could well reduce the amount of income on offer from National Grid shares which at 789.3p currently yield more than 6%.

Staying in the utility sector, SSE (SSE) abandoned plans (17 Dec) to merge its retail energy unit with Npower in the face of poor performance by both businesses, looming price caps and volatile commodity prices.

The company still wants to separate out its energy supply arm from the electricity generation, transmission and renewables operations.

On 14 December construction firm Balfour Beatty (BBY) upgraded full year guidance despite a weak industry backdrop. This followed a series of disposals from its infrastructure investment arm as part of its ‘Build to Last’ restructuring plan including the sale of its interest in Fife Hospital for £43m. It expects to complete a partial sale of its Edinburgh University student accommodation project for £24m.

There were some more tangible signs of improvement in the actual operations of the business, with the year-end order book expected to be slightly higher, up from £11.4bn at the end of 2017 to £12bn.

Travel agent TUI (TUI) reported slightly better-than-expected earnings growth in the year to 30 September.

The numbers, reported on 13 December and underpinned by strong demand for its higher margin hotel and cruise offerings, mark a clear divergence from the weak performance of rival Thomas Cook (TCG) which has seen its shares slip to multi-year lows as collapsed earnings raise concerns over its ability to service borrowings.

‘Our own holiday experiences content account for more than 70% of our earnings: hotels, cruises, excursions and destination activities. This enables us to clearly differentiate ourselves from the competition,’ says TUI chief executive Fritz Joussen.

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