Final Results

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
31 May 2000


'Scottish and Southern Energy has had an excellent year.  We are delighted to
report pre-tax profit of £525.8M, up 13.5%, and that earnings per share rose
by 15.6%.  The dividend per share is up 7% at 27.5p.  The Group is also
reporting an impressive 20% reduction in customer minutes lost, another marked
improvement in meeting customer service standards and a further improvement on
safety performance.  This is a first class performance by our staff', said
Chairman Lord Wilson of Tillyorn.


                              Preliminary Results
                       for the year ended 31 March 2000


HIGHLIGHTS
  Financial
* Operating profit increased by £61.6M  to £608.2M      up    11.3%
* Pre-tax profit up by £62.6M to £525.8M                up    13.5%
* Earnings per share rise to 47.5p                      up    15.6%
* Free cash flow at £714.7M                             up    42.8%
* Controllable costs                                    down  14.0%
                                                              
  Operational                                                   
* £53M merger benefits already delivered
* 20% reduction in customer minutes lost for the Group
* Best ever network service performance in Scotland
* Five fold drop in failures against the Regulator's Guaranteed
  Standards
* Almost 600,000 gas customers - a 50% increase on last year
* Overall power station availability up to over 85%

Enquiries:

Scottish and Southern Energy                 020 7831 3113 (31/05/00)
Jim Forbes, Chief Executive                  01738 455111 (thereafter)
Ian Marchant, Finance Director
Carolyn McAdam, Director of Corporate Communications

Financial Dynamics                           020 7831 3113
Andrew Dowler


OVERVIEW

Scottish  and  Southern Energy can report a strong performance  for  the  past
year.  Operating profits rose £61.6M to £608.2M, an increase of 11.3%.  Profit
before tax is up £62.6M to £525.8M, an increase of 13.5%.  Excellent growth in
operating profit in Generation and Supply in England & Wales has been the main
driver.  We remain on target to achieve over £95M of merger benefits with £53M
already  delivered  including £33M of cost savings, representing  a  14%  real
reduction  in  controllable costs, £10M of trading benefits and  £10M  capital
cost savings.

Earnings  per share have risen to 47.5p, an increase of 15.6%, and  the  Board
has recommended a dividend for the full year of 27.5p, an increase of 7%.  The
dividend policy for the period 2000-2005 is to deliver sustained real dividend
growth with the aim of at least 4% real for the first three years.

FINANCIAL AND OPERATING REVIEW

Our  financial  performance to March 2000 is compared to last year's  business
performance, which excludes exceptional items.

Power Systems
Power Systems operating profit rose to £325.7M, showing a headline increase of
9.8% on last year.  At an underlying level the increase is 6.5% reflecting the
penalties  of  £9.2M  for  late  market opening  charged  in  1998/99.   Units
distributed showed a year on year rise of 2.5% in the south while in the north
they fell by 1.2% as a result of the milder weather.

Controllable costs in Power Systems have been significantly reduced once  more
reinforcing our position as having the most efficient electricity distribution
business in the UK.

Customer  service  standards improved again with a 20% reduction  in  customer
minutes  lost  (CML's)  for the Group as a whole.  In  Scotland  there  was  a
dramatic  improvement  with CML's dropping from 239 to  125  giving  the  best
network   performance  ever.   Failures  against  the  Regulator's  Guaranteed
Standards  of Customer Service improved five fold for the Group. At  the  same
time  our  safety  performance, already the best in the sector,  has  improved
further.   This  represents a tremendous performance by  our  staff  during  a
period of intense change.

Generation and Supply :  England & Wales
Operating  profit  in Generation and Supply in England &  Wales  increased  by
21.4%  in the past year to £187.1M.  A number of factors contributed to  this,
including  a  full  year performance from the upgraded Keadby  power  station,
commissioning of Seabank and improved sales volumes from other power  stations
as well as wholesale contracts.

Lower  purchase  costs once again increased the margins  in  supply.   In  our
growing  retail  gas  business, losses have reduced  despite  maintaining  our
programme  of customer acquisition.  Overall, we now have nearly  600,000  gas
customers,  representing a 50% growth on last year.  We  now  have  3.7million
energy accounts compared to 3.3million accounts when competition started.

Plant  performance was excellent with availability increasing dramatically  to
over  88%,  up  from just under 54% last year when Keadby was being  upgraded.
Seabank,  our joint venture with BG plc, completed its commissioning in  March
and has delivered availability of over 95% since.

During  the past year Scottish and Southern Energy announced three new  small-
scale  generation projects.  The largest being a £9.3M investment  in  a  25MW
blackstart  facility at Keadby which has been designed for flexible  operation
to  meet  the  requirements of the new electricity trading arrangements.   Two
smaller scale projects include a £1.8M investment in a 3.6MW combined heat and
power  plant for the Eli Lilly plant at Basingstoke and £2.4M in a 7MW standby
generation facility for the Mirror Group.

Generation and Supply : Scotland
Increased  competition in Scotland resulted in operating profits in Generation
and Supply falling by 11.1% to £71.9M.  This was partially offset by a rise of
almost 12% in hydro output and an increase in exports over the interconnector.
In  the future the revised hydro benefit arrangements agreed during the latest
price  control review will provide a significant natural hedge against falling
generation prices.

The  final  phase  of integration in Customer Service has now  been  completed
allowing  all  our  electricity customers to be  served  by  the  Group's  new
Customer Service system.  This enables us both to reduce cost to serve and  to
improve customer service through more flexible billing and pricing.

Power  station availability in Scotland reduced marginally to 83% as a  result
of commissioning work associated with the repowering of Peterhead.  This major
project  is  now almost complete and commissioning is under way.  The  station
has  already  achieved thermal efficiencies well above the targeted  55%.   In
addition  we have announced the investment of £5.6M in the construction  of  a
new 3MW hydro station at Culleig, our first new hydro station for 30 years.

Customer Service
Customer  Service  standards  have shown an excellent  improvement.   Failures
against the Regulator's Guaranteed Service Standards improved five fold on the
previous  year.   The  most significant improvements were  in  Scotland  where
adoption  of  best  practice  within the Group has  had  a  marked  impact  on
performance.   In  gas, Scottish and Southern Energy continued  its  excellent
performance  with  one of the lowest levels of complaints  of  all  the  major
suppliers.

Other Businesses
Our  other businesses showed an £8.5M increase in operating profit.   External
turnover in our telecoms business increased by more than 70% and made a  small
contribution to Group profits this year. Significant progress has already been
made  on  delivering the £45M investment programme announced in January.   Our
contracting business, including new connections, reported an operating  profit
broadly  in  line  with  last year, as did our retail business.   Disposal  of
properties as a result of integration also contributed £2.5M, and we  are  now
looking at maximising value from our site in Maidenhead.

Tax
The  Group  effective tax rate was 21.5%, a small reduction  on  the  previous
year, reflecting significant capital expenditure in power systems.

Earnings
As  a  result  of  a strong performance at all levels in the profit  and  loss
account  and  the  impact of the share buyback programme, earnings  per  share
showed a 15.6% increase to 47.5p.  As part of the share buyback programme, the
Group  purchased 19.6M shares at a weighted average price of £4.88,  giving  a
total cost of £96.2M, including expenses.

Dividend
The  Directors have recommended a final dividend of 19.2p per share, making  a
full  year dividend of 27.5p per share, an increase of 7% on last year.   This
represents the final year of the commitment made in 1996 to deliver 5-8%  real
growth  until  March 2000. The final dividend will be paid on 29 September  to
those shareholders on the register on 8 September. The dividend policy for the
period 2000-2005 is to deliver sustained real dividend growth with the aim  of
at least 4% real (7% nominal based on 3% inflation) for the first three years.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
At 31 March 2000, shareholders funds were £1,663.7M compared with £1,576.5M at
31 March 1999.  Net debt increased by £100.4M to £1,114.8M largely as a result
of  our share buyback programme.    Interest cover increased from 6.5 times to
7.1.   Free cash flow at £714.7M continues to be very strong, showing a  42.8%
increase on the underlying figure for last year.

e-Commerce Strategy
Scottish and Southern Energy recognises the increasingly important role  which
new technology will play. We are convinced that the winners in e-commerce will
be  those who use new technology both to reduce costs and to capitalise on the
strong  relationship they have with existing customers.   Our  industrial  and
commercial  customers are already benefiting from the development of  flexible
internet  billing  facilities, half hourly data, pool  price  forecasting  and
price  warnings.   This  product has enabled us to win new  customers  in  the
latest energy contract round.

Building  on  this, Scottish and Southern Energy is therefore  making  a  £15M
investment launching three new products, two relating to the 3.7 million  core
energy  business  customers  and  Simple2, a new  financial  services  product
offering.

The  new energy products are aimed at the mass market.  Customers will shortly
be  able  to  register  and  receive a quote  on-line,  in  addition  to  more
traditional  methods.  A special internet tariff, one of the most  competitive
in  the  UK,  will  be available.  Hienergyshop.co.uk is the  Group's  virtual
domestic appliance shop.  Using our existing retail infrastructure it is  able
to  offer  over  1,000  appliances at discounts of  up  to  20%  to  customers
throughout the UK.

Simple2.co.uk will build the value of our customer base by offering  financial
services  products from a range of the UK's leading providers to  the  Group's
energy customers.  The site will be operational in the autumn, capitalising on
the  business  opportunities  presented by the  Government's  new  stakeholder
pension   legislation,  offering  this  specialist  service  to  our  existing
industrial  and  commercial  energy customers and  their  staff.   Our  energy
products  will  also  be  marketed to the customers of the  financial  product
providers.


STRATEGY AND OUTLOOK

The   regulatory   price  reviews  covering  our  distribution,   supply   and
transmission  businesses  which  were completed  in  December  of  last  year,
reaffirmed  the  Group's  position  as the most  efficient  operator  in  both
distribution  and  supply  in the UK and a leader in  customer  service.   The
efficiency  of the distribution business will allow it to achieve  a  rate  of
return higher than the 6.5% used by the Regulator.  In supply, effective  fuel
purchasing  and lower costs to serve, resulting from our new Customer  Service
system,  coupled with our e-commerce initiatives establishes the  Group  as  a
long term player well positioned to use its efficiency to make relatively high
margins and become even more competitive as the market develops.

The  recent  price  control  reviews have  reduced  allowed  income  from  the
distribution  and  supply businesses by £65M per year  from  2000/01  onwards.
Despite  this stringent target, Scottish and Southern Energy can look  forward
with  confidence to delivering sustained earnings growth.  This will come from
further  synergy savings as we deliver on our target of at least  £95M  annual
merger benefits and from already committed investments such as Seabank  1  and
2, growth in our supply business, our new telecoms business and our e-commerce
strategy.

The energy markets continue to evolve at a fast pace and during the course  of
the  next  year  there will be further change in the regulatory framework  for
trading  electricity in both England & Wales and Scotland.   Our  strategy  in
England  &  Wales  is  to maintain an appropriate balance between  supply  and
generation in light of market conditions.  While we are a supply led  company,
we  will continue to seek opportunities to create value through investment  in
generation assets.

The  Group welcomed the announcement by the Government that it plans  to  lift
the moratorium on the building of new gas fired power stations.  This is timed
to  coincide  with the introduction of new trading arrangements in  England  &
Wales  later  this year.  Two applications for the development of OCGT's  were
set  aside during the moratorium and negotiations with the DTI for S14 consent
will  be  re-opened.   Options  have also been sought  on  further  sites  and
applications for a number of these will be developed in time for  the  lifting
of the moratorium.  This flexible plant will play an important role in the new
trading  arrangements and our focus in this area will strengthen  further  our
position in the generation market.

Scottish and Southern Energy's supply driven strategy is underpinned by  world
class  efficiency  and a broad based range of high quality  assets,  including
electricity  distribution, transmission and generation.   We  will  focus  our
future  growth  in  these  key  areas,  in  the  UK  in  the  first  instance.
Opportunities  outside  the UK will be considered if they  create  shareholder
value.   Our financial strength positions us well to deliver long term  growth
for  shareholders  as  we play a central role in the rapidly  evolving  energy
markets.

Group Profit and Loss Account
for the year ended 31 March 2000

                                                       1999                   

                                                   Business Exceptional       
                                            2000 performance      items  Total
                                   Note       £M         £M          £M     £M
                                                                              

Turnover: Group and share of                                                  
          joint ventures'                                                     
          turnover                        3,116.6   2,843.3         -  2,843.3
Less:  share of joint ventures'                                               
       turnover                             68.7       34.1         -     34.1
Group turnover                       3   3,047.9    2,809.2         -  2,809.2
Cost of sales                            2,076.1    1,879.4       3.3  1,882.7
Gross profit                               971.8      929.8       3.3    926.5
Distribution costs                         217.0      233.5      53.3    286.8
Administrative costs                       204.8      204.2      78.6    282.8
Operating profit                                                              
  Group                              3     550.0      492.1      135.2   356.9
  Share of joint ventures                   17.4        7.5          -     7.5
  Share of associates                       40.8       47.0          -    47.0
Total operating profit                     608.2      546.6       135.2  411.4
Merger expenses                                -          -        34.7   34.7
Income from fixed asset                                                       
investments                                  3.7        1.1          -     1.1
Net interest payable                                                          
  Group                              4      56.8       54.9           -   54.9
  Joint ventures                     4       5.0        2.8           -    2.8
  Associates                         4      24.3       26.8           -   26.8
Profit on ordinary activities                                                 
before taxation                            525.8      463.2       169.9  293.3
Tax on profit on ordinary                                                     
activities                           5     113.0      104.4      (17.4)   87.0
Profit for the financial year              412.8      358.8       152.5  206.3
Dividends                            6     236.0      224.9           -  224.9
Retained profit/(loss)                     176.8      133.9       152.5 (18.6)
Earnings per share (p)                                                        
               -    basic            7      47.5                          23.6
               -    adjusted         7      47.5                          41.1
               -    diluted          7      47.4                          23.5

The  above  results are derived from continuing activities and there  were  no
acquisitions during the year.


Group Balance Sheet
as at 31 March 2000

                                                Note         1999         2000
                                                               £M           £M
                                                                 
Fixed Assets                                                                
     Intangible assets                                        1.2        1.7
     Tangible assets                                      3,408.8    3,251.5
     Investments in joint ventures                                          
          Share of gross assets                             253.1      213.6
          Share of gross liabilities                         40.4      144.0
                                                            212.7       69.6
     Investments in associates                               47.6       54.6
     Other investments                                        0.2        1.0
                                                            260.5      125.2
                                                          3,670.5    3,378.4
Current assets                                                              
     Stocks                                                  43.1       42.7
     Debtors                                                430.2      407.9
     Investments                                             46.9       27.8
     Cash at bank and in hand                                10.6       14.6
                                                            530.8      493.0
Creditors:     amounts falling due                                          
               within one year                            1,192.3    1,115.7
Net current liabilities                                   (661.5)    (622.7)
Total assets less current liabilities                     3,009.0    2,755.7
Creditors:     amounts falling due                                          
               after more than one year                   1,138.4    1,053.0
Provisions for liabilities and charges                                      
     Deferred taxation                                       40.0       24.7
     Other provisions                             8         166.9      101.5
Net assets                                                1,663.7    1,576.5
Capital and reserves - including non-equity                                 
     Called up share capital                                428.8      437.9
     Share premium account                                   33.7       27.8
     Capital redemption reserve                               9.8          -
     Profit and loss account                              1,191.4    1,110.8
Total shareholders' funds                                 1,663.7    1,576.5

These Accounts were approved by the Board of Directors on 31 May 2000 and
signed on their behalf by


I Marchant, Finance Director       Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, Chairman


Group Cash Flow Statement
for the year ended 31 March 2000
                                                             2000     1999
                                                     Note                 
                                                               £M       £M
                                                                          
Net cash inflow from operating activities               9   833.0    631.2
Merger expenses                                                 -   (34.7)
Dividends received from joint ventures and                                
associates                                                   16.9      8.4
Returns on investments and servicing of finance             (52.6)   (56.9)
Taxation - (in 1999 windfall tax of £104.2M is                            
included)                                                  (82.6)   (186.3)
Free cash flow                                              714.7    361.7
Capital expenditure and financial investment              (499.6)   (426.1)
Acquisitions and disposals                                    3.6     (1.1)
Equity dividends paid                                      (228.9)  (200.2)
Net cash outflow before management of                                     
     liquid resources and financing                        (10.2)   (265.7)
Management of liquid resources                             (19.1)     19.9
Financing                                                    33.9    225.9
Increase/(decrease) in cash in the year                       4.6    (19.9)

Notes to the Group Cash Flow Statement
for the year ended 31 March 2000

Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net debt:
                                                              2000      1999
                                                                £M        £M
                                                                            
Increase/(decrease) in cash in the year                        4.6      (19.9)
Cash inflow from increase in debt and lease financing       (124.1)    (221.2)
Cash outflow/(inflow) from increase/(decrease) in liquid      19.1      (19.9)
resources
Finance costs                                                    -        3.6
Movement in net debt in the year                            (100.4)    (257.4)
Net debt at 1 April                                        (1014.4)    (757.0)
Net debt at 31 March                                       (1,114.8) (1,014.4)


Analysis of net debt:
                                                (Decrease/ (Increase)         
                                           As at  increase  /decrease    As at
                                        1 April   in cash    in debt   31March
                                           1999        £M         £M     2000
                                             £M                            £M
                                                                              

Cash at bank and in hand                   14.6     (4.0)          -     10.6
Overdrafts                                (9.5)       8.6          -     (0.9)
Other debt due within one year          (341.3)         -     (24.2)   (365.5)
Net borrowings due within one                                                 
 year                                   (336.2)       4.6     (24.2)   (355.8)
Net borrowings due after more than                                            
one year                                (706.0)         -     (99.9)   (805.9)
Current asset investments                  27.8         -       19.1     46.9
Net debt                              (1,014.4)       4.6    (105.0) (1,114.8)


Group Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses
for the year ended 31 March 2000

                                                             2000     1999
                                                               £M       £M
                                                                          
Profit for the financial year
     Group                                                  395.4    188.2
     Share of joint ventures                                  7.9      3.8
     Share of associates                                      9.5     14.3
Total recognised gains and losses relating to the                         
financial year                                              412.8    206.3
Prior year adjustment                                           -   (49.0)
Total gains and losses recognised                           412.8    157.3


Group Reconciliation of Movement in Shareholders' Funds
as at 31 March 2000


                                                             2000     1999
                                                               £M       £M
                                                                          
Profit for the financial year                               412.8    206.3
Dividends including non-equity                              236.0    224.9
Retained profit/(loss)                                      176.8   (18.6)
Repayment of preference shares                                  -    (0.9)
New share capital subscribed                                  6.6      3.6
Repurchase of ordinary share capital for cancellation       (96.2)      -
Merger adjustment                                               -     10.7
Conversion of preference shares                                 -    (8.6)
Net addition/(reduction) to shareholders' funds              87.2   (13.8)
Opening shareholders' funds                               1,576.5  1,590.3
Closing shareholders' funds                               1,663.7  1,576.5


Notes on the Financial Statements

1. Financial statements

The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute the
Group's  Statutory Accounts for the years ended 31 March 1999 or 2000  but  is
derived  from  those  Accounts.   Statutory Accounts  for  1998/99  have  been
delivered  to  the  Registrar of Companies, and those for  1999/2000  will  be
delivered  following the Company's Annual General Meeting.  The auditors  have
reported  on  those Accounts and their reports were unqualified  and  did  not
contain  statements  under section 237(2) or (3) of the  Companies  Act  1985.
This preliminary announcement was approved by the Board on 31 May 2000.

2. Basis of consolidation

The  Group  Accounts consolidate the Accounts of Scottish and Southern  Energy
plc  and  its subsidiary undertakings together with the Group's share  of  the
results  and  net  assets  of its joint ventures and associates.   Comparative
amounts are restated, where necessary, to conform with current presentation.

The  results of subsidiary undertakings acquired or sold are consolidated from
the  date of acquisition, or when control passed, using the acquisition method
of  accounting.   The  results of joint ventures and associates  are  included
using the equity method of accounting.

3.Segmental analysis

All  turnover  and profit before taxation arise from operations  within  Great
Britain and relate to continuing operations.

The  Group's principal business is the generation, distribution and supply  of
electricity  and  sale  of  gas  in  Great Britain  and  the  transmission  of
electricity  in  the  north of Scotland.  Analysis of turnover  and  operating
profit by activity is provided below:

Turnover
                         Total turnover  Internal turnover External turnover
                                         2000     1999     2000       1999
                      2000       1999    £M         £M     £M           £M
                      £M          £M
Power Systems                                               
Scotland                224.0    216.6     190.1  203.3      33.9        13.3
England                 415.3    387.7     293.6  326.4     121.7        61.3
                        639.3    604.3     483.7  529.7     155.6        74.6
Generation and Supply                                       
Scotland                657.6    766.9        -       -     657.6       766.9
England & Wales        1,960.2 1,759.6       -      1.8     1,960.2   1,757.8
                       2,617.8 2,526.5       -      1.8     2,617.8   2,524.7
Other Businesses        315.6    243.0      41.1   33.1     274.5       209.9
Total                  3,572.7 3,373.8     524.8  564.6     3,047.9   2,809.2


Operating profit

                                           Business  Exceptional      Total
                                        performance        items           
                                                                
                                  2000         1999         1999       1999
                                    £M           £M           £M         £M
Power Systems                                                              
Scotland                          91.3         89.4         44.6       44.8
England                          234.4        207.2         19.3      187.9
                                 325.7        296.6         63.9      232.7
Generation and Supply                                                      
Scotland                          71.9         80.9         58.8       22.1
England & Wales                  187.1        154.1          7.6      146.5
                                 259.0        235.0         66.4      168.6
Other Businesses                  23.5         15.0          4.9       10.1
Total                            608.2        546.6        135.2      411.4

The  total  operating  profits relating to joint ventures  and  associates  is
£17.4M  (1999-£7.5M) and £40.8M (1999-£47.0M) respectively,  of  which  £59.3M
(1999-£54.5M) is included in Generation and Supply England and Wales and £1.1M
loss (1999-nil) is included in Power Systems Scotland.

Income  and  costs have been allocated specifically to the activity  to  which
they  relate wherever possible.  However, because of the integrated nature  of
the  Group's  activities,  certain costs have been  apportioned  or  recharged
between businesses.

4.   Net interest payable


                                 Group     Joint Ventures   Associates
                              2000    1999   2000    1999   2000    1999
                                £M      £M     £M      £M     £M      £M
Interest receivable                                                     
 Interest from short-term                                               
  deposits                     1.4     1.9      -       -      -       -
 Other interest receivable     8.4    12.9    0.2       -    1.2     1.6
                               9.8    14.8    0.2       -    1.2     1.6
Interest payable and                                                    
similar charges
 Bank loans and overdrafts    22.6    33.0      -       -   25.5    28.4
 Other loans                  46.8    39.0    5.2     2.8      -       -
 Other financing charges       3.6     0.4      -       -      -       -
                              73.0    72.4    5.2     2.8   25.5    28.4
 Interest capitalised        (6.4)   (2.7)      -       -      -       -
                              66.6    69.7    5.2     2.8   25.5    28.4
Net interest payable          56.8    54.9    5.0     2.8   24.3    26.8



5. Taxation

                                                         2000     1999
                                                           £M       £M
United Kingdom Corporation tax                                        
Current year:                                                         
Corporation tax at 30% (1999 - 31%)                      96.0     87.6
Tax on dividends receivable                                 -      1.4
Deferred tax                                             15.9    (8.8)
Joint ventures                                            4.5      0.9
Associates                                                7.0      5.9
                                                        123.4     87.0
Previous years:                                                       
Corporation tax                                        (10.4)        -
                                                        113.0     87.0


6. Dividends

                                                         2000     1999
                                                           £M       £M
Dividends on ordinary shares                                          
 Interim of 8.3p (1999-7.7p)                             71.7     67.6
 Proposed final of 19.2p (1999-18.0p)                   164.3    157.2
                                                        236.0    224.8
Dividends on preference shares                                        
 Southern Electric                                          -      0.1
                                                        236.0    224.9

7. Earnings per share

Additional  information on earnings per share has been provided to enable  the
effects of merger expenses and exceptional items on reported earnings in  1999
to  be  understood.  In 1999 basic earnings have been calculated on the profit
for the financial year less preference dividends of £0.1M.

                                          2000      1999     2000      1999
                                      Earnings  Earnings Earnings  Earnings
                                            £M        £M pence per pence per
                                                            share     share
Basic                                    412.8     206.2     47.5      23.6
Adjustment-   exceptional items net                                        
 of tax                                      -     152.5        -      17.5
Adjusted                                 412.8     358.7     47.5      41.1
Diluted                                  412.8     206.2     47.4      23.5


The  weighted  average  number of shares issued  in  each  calculation  is  as
follows:

                                                 2000         1999
                                            Number of    Number of
                                               shares       shares
                                           (millions)   (millions)
For basic and adjusted earnings per             869.1        872.3
share
Effect of exercise of share options               2.3          3.5
                                                871.4        875.8

8. Group provisions for liabilities and charges

                                               Onerous             
                        Restructure Pension    Energy     Other     Total
                                               Contracts          
                                £M     £M           £M       £M        £M
At 1 April 1999               85.2    3.6            -     12.7     101.5
Profit and loss account       16.0    0.1         87.3       -      103.4
Utilised during the year    (51.1)                   -     (2.3)    (53.4)
                                        -
Transfer from/(to)             6.6      -          9.0     (0.2)      15.4
accruals
At 31 March 2000              56.7    3.7         96.3      10.2      166.9


The  restructure  provision  comprises  employee  related  costs,  principally
redundancy and early retirement costs, and IT system decommissioning costs  in
respect  of  the  merger.  The majority of the expenditure is expected  to  be
incurred over the next twelve months.

The  onerous  energy contracts provision relates to the present value  of  the
projected  loss  on  purchase contracts and will be utilised  over  a  maximum
period  to  2011  when  the  contracts terminate.   Other  provisions  include
insurance/warranty  claims  and  the costs of various  committed  expenditures
relating to hydro civil assets.

9. Reconciliation of operating profit to operating cash flows
                                                         2000    1999
                                                                     
                                                           £M      £M
Operating profit                                        550.0   356.9
Depreciation, amortisation and revaluation              169.8   150.7
adjustments
Customer contributions and capital grants released     (15.7)  (14.1)
Change in working capital and provisions                131.3    96.9
Profit/(loss) on disposal of tangible fixed assets      (2.4)    40.8
Net cash inflow from operating activities               833.0   631.2