LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's second-largest energy supplier SSE said it continued to expect earnings at the same level or slightly higher than last year, despite what it called "very competitive market conditions".
SSE in May forecasted adjusted earnings per share for the 12 months to March 31 2015 "to be around or slightly greater than" the 123.4 pence it reported for the year-earlier period.
The company said ahead of its annual general meeting on Thursday that the market to supply electricity and gas to households was very competitive and its customer base shrunk to 8.99 million accounts from 9.10 million.
Britain's 'Big Six' energy suppliers have come under fire for consistently increasing tariffs and the country's competition authority launched an investigation in June after industry regulator Ofgem said the market was not competitive enough.
"Although energy market conditions are challenging, we are on course to give shareholders a return on their investment through a dividend increase that at least keeps pace with inflation," chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said in a statement.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)