Innogy says deal with SSE of great strategic relevance

ESSEN, Germany (Reuters) - Innogy (IGY.DE) said a planned retail energy joint venture with British peer SSE (SSE.L) has great strategic importance for the group, adding the deal had been filed with British antitrust bodies and was expected to close late this year or early next.

Innogy managers, speaking at the group's annual news conference, said the UK market environment remained difficult, despite Innogy having cut prices and invested efforts in stemming customer losses.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Vera Eckert)