SSE posts a record profit of £3.8billion

SSE has posted record profits – as Chancellor Rishi Sunak readies to impose a levy on energy firms.

Sunak will today unveil a £10bn support package to tackle the cost of living crisis, including a windfall tax for British suppliers.

SSE reported a profit of £3.8bn for the year to the end of March, a 41pc rise from the previous year, as bills rocketed.

It came after regulator Ofgem warned this week that the energy price cap will rise by £830 in October, leaving some people with annual bills as high as £2,800.

North Sea oil and gas producers and electricity suppliers have profited massively from a boom in prices. Aside from SSE, firms that could be liable for the tax include EDF Energy, Scottish Power and British Gas owner Centrica.

It is thought electricity generation firms made over £10bn in excess profits in the past year as prices surged. SSE sought to stave off the possibility of a tax hit by highlighting plans to pour £24bn into green power projects by 2030 – nearly double its previous ambition to invest £12.5bn by 2026.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tweeted that the investment ‘equals new jobs, new industries and more domestic energy’.

‘We can’t accelerate clean, affordable, home-grown power without companies taking risks and investing their billions in offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture,’ he added.

Asked if he thought SSE could suffer a windfall tax, chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said it was ‘impossible to speculate hypothetical situations’ before adding: ‘As things change you are always going to change.’

He shifted responsibility away from electricity generators, adding: ‘I think it is an issue about oil and gas producers. Oil companies are big enough and ugly enough to speak for themselves.’