SSE announces 1H21 results on Wednesday at 7am (GMT), with a presentation to be held at 8.30am (webcast link). At the adjusted operating profit line, SSE has guided to a 1H impact of £120130m from Covid-19 which we expect to fall in a 30/30/40 split across Distribution/Enterprise/Business Energy, and with renewable output 9% below plan, we look for adjusted operating profit of £428m, 13% down on 1H20. We expect this to feed down to adjusted EPS of 12.5p, at the upper end of SSE’s guided range of 10p-12.5p for 1H. Net debt should benefit from the £350m sale of SSE’s 25% stake in the Walney offshore wind farm, and the Seagreen sell-down, and we look for net debt to dip under £10bn. There should be no surprises on the interim dividend, with SSE having guided to 24.4p/share. We look for updates from SSE on the progress in taking Dogger Bank to financial close, and the gas production and contracting sale processes, as well as observations as to whether there has been traction with Ofgem ahead of final determinations next month for electricity transmission, and gas distribution. We view the strategic narrative and update as more important than the 1H numbers themselves.