Trading Statement

National Grid PLC
03 October 2006


3 October 2006


                 National Grid close period trading update for
                    the six months ending 30 September 2006


                        Continued strong earnings growth


National Grid plc is today issuing its close period trading update ahead of
announcing its interim results on Thursday 16 November 2006.

We expect to deliver strong growth in profit before tax* and earnings* compared
to the first half of last year.

We anticipate delivering higher income, principally driven by higher allowed
revenues in UK electricity transmission and a continued strong performance from
LNG storage and French interconnector capacity auctions. We have also commenced
recovery from the deferral account under our New York rate plans. We anticipate
that this higher income will more than offset increases in operating costs in
the UK and US that have been mainly driven by an increased workload and higher
non-controllable costs.

We expect this operating performance, together with an anticipated over recovery
of US commodity costs, to offset the projected decline in US stranded cost
recoveries and the adverse impact of weather. Therefore we expect operating
profit* to be in line with the same period last year.

Due to lower financing costs this period, we anticipate strong growth in profit
before tax* with an effective tax rate in line with last year, leading to strong
earnings growth*.

We forecast closing net debt of around £11.7 billion, excluding certain
mark-to-market effects.




* Results are measured on a Business Performance basis. Business Performance
results are the primary financial performance measures that we use, being the
results for continuing operations before exceptional items and remeasurements.
Remeasurements are non-cash movements in the carrying value of financial
instruments and of certain commodity contracts, that arise from changes in
mark-to-market values or in exchange rates and are reflected in the income
statement to the extent that hedge accounting is not achieved or is not fully
effective.



CONTACTS

Investors
Alexandra Lewis    [phone]    [phone] (m)
Richard Smith      [phone]    [phone] (m)
James Waite        [phone]    [phone] (m)

Media
Clive Hawkins      [phone]    [phone] (m)

Citigate Dewe Rogerson    [phone]
Anthony Carlisle          [phone] (m)



Cautionary statement

This announcement contains certain statements that are neither reported
financial results nor other historical information. These statements are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended. These statements include information with respect to National Grid's
financial condition, National Grid's results of operations and businesses,
strategy, plans and objectives. Words such as 'anticipates', 'expects',
'intends', 'plans', 'believes', 'seeks', 'estimates', 'may', 'will', 'continue',
'project' and similar expressions, as well as statements in the future tense,
identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of National Grid's future performance and are subject to assumptions,
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results to differ
materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements.
Many of these assumptions, risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are
beyond National Grid's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as delays
in obtaining, or adverse conditions contained in, regulatory approvals and
contractual consents, including those required to complete the proposed
acquisition of KeySpan when or as planned, unseasonable weather affecting the
demand for electricity and gas, competition and industry restructuring, changes
in economic conditions, currency fluctuations, changes in interest and tax
rates, changes in energy market prices, changes in historical weather patterns,
changes in laws, regulations or regulatory policies, developments in legal or
public policy doctrines, the impact of changes to accounting standards and
technological developments. Other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those described in this announcement include the ability
to integrate the businesses relating to announced acquisitions with our existing
business and realise the expected synergies from such integration, the
availability of new acquisition opportunities and the timing and success of
future acquisition opportunities, the impact of the sales of businesses by
National Grid, the failure for any reason to achieve reductions in costs or to
achieve operational efficiencies, the failure to retain key management, the
behaviour of UK electricity market participants on system balancing, the timing
of amendments in prices to shippers in the UK gas market, the performance of
National Grid's pension schemes and the regulatory treatment of pension costs,
and any adverse consequences arising from outages on or otherwise affecting
energy networks, including gas pipelines, owned or operated by National Grid.
For a more detailed description of some of these assumptions, risks and
uncertainties, together with any other risk factors, please see National Grid's
filings with and submissions to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the
'SEC') (and in particular the 'Risk Factors' and 'Operating and Financial
Review' sections in its most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and the 'Risk
Factors' section in its Registration Statement on Form F-3 filed with the SEC on
28 June 2006). Except as may be required by law or regulation, National Grid
undertakes no obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements. The
effects of these factors are difficult to predict. New factors emerge from time
to time and National Grid cannot assess the potential impact of any such factor
on its activities or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors,
may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statement.



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 END
TSTILFFTISLFIIR