Dec 7, 2021
Elliott attacks ‘history of underperformance’ at SSE
Last month SSE set out proposals to sell a 25 per cent stake in its electricity networks business to fund extra investment in its renewables unit. Now Elliott has made its views public for the first time since taking a stake earlier this year, describing management's plan as a "Missed opportunity" and pointing to the company's "History of underperformance" under chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies. In a letter to SSE's chair published this morning, Elliott called for the appointment of two new independent directors with renewables experience, and a further strategy review to be led by a committee of independent directors that would consider the sale of a larger stake in SSE's networks business and partial sale or listing of the renewables division. FTSE 100 construction equipment rental group Ashtead reported a "Record first half performance", with pre-tax profits up almost 40 per cent on the first half of last year to $890m and revenues up 18 per cent to $3.9bn. Defence contractor Babcock warned that while it was leaving its full-year outlook unchanged, "We are cautious about our ability to maintain activity levels and recover all costs in the remainder of this financial year given the uncertainty from new Covid-19 variants and varied government responses". The blank cheque company that is set to merge with the former president's start-up has received inquiries from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the broker-dealer watchdog Finra, seeking information on trading before the deal was announced as well as dealings between the two groups.
Related companies
Make a complaint about Samsung by viewing their customer service contacts.
