Objectives and strategy

We invest in our existing businesses and, where we believe we can create value through operational improvements, synergies and financial benefits, we consider investing in infrastructure businesses in our core UK and US energy markets.

Measures we use to monitor investment include capital expenditure and investments in acquisitions.

We aim to generate value from our investments by improving the operating performance of our networks, by selecting investments that will provide the best return or, in the case of acquisitions, by selecting businesses where we can obtain synergies for the benefit of our customers and our shareholders.

Measures we use to monitor the value we generate from our investments include our return on equity and synergy savings from acquisitions.

In order to deliver sustainable growth we must be disciplined in the way we manage our balance sheet.

This means that we will return cash to shareholders to the extent it is not required for our investment objectives.