The UK National Grid (NGG.US) raised its full-year profit forecast, capital investment soared to £6.7 billion, and the £70 billion upgrade plan entered a period of acceleration

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the UK National Grid (NGG.US) published its semi-annual report for the year ending September 30, 2026, and raised profit expectations. In the first half of this fiscal year, the scale of the company's investment increased dramatically, and stepped up a multi-billion pound plan to upgrade the UK power grid.

The company said in a statement that it currently expects earnings per share to grow 15% to 16% compared to the previous forecast of 13% to 15%. The total investment for the 2026/27 fiscal year is expected to reach £13.5 billion (US$18.2 billion), which is £500 million higher than previously anticipated.

Benefiting from the continued implementation of large-scale transmission projects in the UK and investment in the transformation of the US power grid, the first half of the year's statutory operating profit surged 55% year-on-year to £2.36 billion, and capital investment reached 6.7 billion pounds, a record high. Underlying operating profit increased 13% to £2.6 billion, and underlying earnings per share increased 22% to 37p, mainly due to increased revenue from the UK electricity transmission business under the new RIIO-T3 price control framework.

The UK National Grid operates most of the UK's transmission networks and is investing heavily in expanding and modernizing the grid to support the transition to renewable energy and growing demand for electricity. The grid operator has launched a five-year, £70 billion investment plan covering infrastructure upgrades in the UK and US.

Earlier this year, the company's UK transmission business entered a new regulatory cycle, allowing it to increase its investment efforts — regulators allowed it to collect more revenue to fund and reap returns on related expenses.

The company plans to allocate about £31 billion to the UK transmission business to build supporting infrastructure, connect to renewable energy power generation projects, enhance grid carrying capacity, and eliminate transmission bottlenecks.

CEO Zoe Juinovic said that capital investment is progressing at an accelerated pace, and major projects are progressing smoothly, strengthening the Group's confidence in the five-year framework.

Meanwhile, its venture capital division recorded a return of £253 million on investments in the first half of the year. Its portfolio includes Uniphore, which develops artificial intelligence (AI) software for enterprises, and eRock, which supplies on-site power to data centers and other large energy users. Among them, Uniphore's £142 million revenue is classified as a special project and is not included in basic profit.