FTSE 100 news / Companies and sectors / Utilities / 3 October 2026
Utilities: sector news on Saturday 3 October 2026
Average tone +2.4 (slightly positive) across 6 companies with relevant coverage, from 29 stories.
Company by company
| Company | Tone | Stories | What the coverage was about |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Grid | +3.0 | 12 | Coverage was mostly about the £600M substation civils framework with 31 suppliers named, plus modest share price gains and investment in voltage capacity. |
| Centrica | +8.7 | 5 | Coverage was mainly about broker support, with JPMorgan adding Centrica to its analyst focus list and a US bank calling earlier downgrades overdone. |
| United Utilities | +1.2 | 5 | Coverage was mixed: a dividend-income feature, a small share price rise and a Haweswater barn restoration were positive. |
| SSE | +6.2 | 4 | Coverage leaned positive, led by Jefferies keeping its 'buy' rating on SSE's £33bn investment plan and network growth. |
| Severn Trent | −6.3 | 2 | Coverage was mainly about service disruption, with water supply problems affecting customers in Chester and a burst main in Wolverhampton city centre. |
| Metlen Energy & Metals | +2.0 | 1 | The only relevant coverage was a student discount offer from Protergia, Metlen's retail energy brand. |
Strongest stories in the sector
- +10.0 JP Morgan adds Centrica to focus list, seeing 53% upside
JP Morgan adds Centrica to focus list, sees large upside. - +10.0 LONDON BROKER RATINGS: JPMorgan adds Centrica to 'analyst focus list'
JPMorgan adds Centrica to analyst focus list. - +9.2 SSE maintains £33bn investment plan with strong network growth, Jefferies keeps 'buy' rating
Jefferies keeps buy; £33bn investment plan and network growth. - −8.3 National Grid significantly under delivered new boundary capacity in T2
Significantly under-delivered boundary capacity in T2, reputational and regulatory hit - +6.7 Centrica downgrades 'overdone', says US bank
US bank says earlier downgrades overdone, supportive of shares. - −6.7 Severn Trent investigates water supply problems affecting Chester customers
Supply problems affecting customers in Chester, company investigating. - +5.8 Centrica Better Than Peers in Bad Debt Collections -- Market Talk
Centrica seen as better than peers on bad debt collections. - −5.8 Severn Trent issues update on burst water main in Wolverhampton city centre
Burst water main in Wolverhampton centre; company giving update. - +5.7 Historic Haweswater barn reborn for water, wildlife and visitors
Haweswater barn restoration benefits water, wildlife and visitors; good community reputation. - +5.0 Centrica climbs Friday, outperforms market
Shares climbed and outperformed the market. - +5.0 31 contractors bag £600m National Grid civils framework
Contractors win £600m civils framework, investment programme - +5.0 National Grid names 31 suppliers on £600M substation civils framework
Names 31 suppliers on £600M framework, investment progress