A reader emails me over the weekend, worried about National Grid and the reliable dividend income the company generates. Will this be at risk if, as was suggested by MPs last week, the company is broken up?
No, because it won’t be. National Grid has one of the biggest shareholder lists on the stock market after the 2002 merger between it and Lattice, which used to be part of British Gas. It receives 31 per cent of profits from the United States, which would not be affected by any moves by the British authorities. The US businesses have had their problems in the past but are doing solidly enough, providing a return on equity of a respectable 8 per cent.
A committee of MPs worries