Centrica announces £1.3bn profits

Utility giant and its residential arm British Gas likely to face criticism for £1.3bn half-year profits with price rise imminent Britain’s largest energy supplier, Centrica, faced more public outrage today after reporting £1.3bn in its half-year profits – including £270m for its residential arm British Gas – just weeks after announcing a price hike . But Centrica said adjusted operating profits at British Gas for the six months to 30 June fell by 54% compared with the same period last year, as it battled with a 30% increase in wholesale gas prices and lower consumption. Centrica, which also operates an upstream gas exploration business and a US residential arm, posted a 19% decline in adjusted operating profits from £1.6bn in the same period last year. British Gas plans to lift gas and electricity prices by an average of 18% and 16% respectively from 18 August . Some 9 million customers will be hit when British Gas raises the average dual fuel bill by £190 a year to £1,219, pushing the average monthly bill to £101.58. The price rise comes at a time when household incomes are becoming increasingly squeezed by high inflation and muted wage growth. But Centrica said British Gas saw an 18% year-on-year decline in gas usage in the period, as well as a 3% drop in electricity consumption. The FTSE 100-listed company said British Gas profits were made in the first quarter of the year – with energy being sold at a loss since April. Centrica said without the pending price rise in August, it would make a loss in the second half of the year. However, British Gas did record an increase in customers in the period – up 159,000 to 16.1 million accounts. The upstream gas operations, which include assets in the North Sea and Trinidad and Tobago, saw profits increase 14% to £414m. Centrica Utilities Gas Commodities Energy industry Household bills Consumer affairs guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 28, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.