Centrica braced for £70m price cap hit as more customers leave

British Gas owner Centrica has warned over a hit of around £70 million from the incoming energy price cap as it revealed another 370,000 customers have quit the supplier.

Britain’s biggest energy provider said the earnings impact will be taken in the first quarter of next year, with the cap coming into force on January 1.

While the ongoing impact of the cap is in line with previous forecasts, Centrica said the regulator’s recent revisions to calculation changes meant it would take the one-off earnings hit in the initial period after the cap comes into effect.

British Gas lost another 372,000 gas and electricity accounts in the four months to the end of October as households switched suppliers amid intense competition and after the provider announced its second price hike this year in August.

The customer account losses came as it moved customers off standard variable tariffs (SVTs) ahead of the price cap.

British Gas has 3.1 million customers on its SVT, down from 4.3m at the start of the year, and it expects this to reduce further to below 3m by the end of the year.

However, despite the “competitive trading conditions”, Centrica said it expects to deliver 2018 results in line with forecasts, with underlying earnings set to be higher than in 2017.

Energy regulator Ofgem recently confirmed the price cap will start from January 1 and will initially be set at £1,137 per year for a typical dual fuel customer paying by direct debit.

It will save households around £76 per year on average, with those on the most expensive tariffs saving £120.

But Ofgem added it is likely the cap will be increased from April as wholesale energy costs have risen “significantly” over the past year and continue at the same pace.

The cap will put pressure on suppliers, many of which still have swathes of customers on SVTs.

SSE and npower recently announced they were renegotiating the terms of their planned merger due to the incoming cap.