Triple whammy hits British Gas

£750m loss as 3,000 customers a day go elsewhere

BRITISH Gas owner Centrica suffered a £750million hit yesterday after revealing three big setbacks.

The company admitted 372,000 customers ditched British Gas in the past four months – more than 3,000 a day.

Unplanned maintenance dented production from its offshore gas fields.

And cracks have been discovered in a nuclear reactor it part owns.

The disastrous triple whammy saw Centrica’s share price slump more than 9% yesterday, with the firm’s value having plunged by half since chief executive Iann Conn took control in January 2015. He said yesterday “We are focused on driving significant underlying improvements in performance.” But his defiance came as Centrica said a price cap on standard variable tariffs (SVT) that kicks in on January 1 would knock £70m off profits in the first three months of 2019.

The firm blamed the latest slump in customer account numbers on a “continued focus on value over volume” attempts to move households off SVTs, along with the trend for switching and a price hike in August – the second this year.

Centrica, which has slashed thousands of jobs, vowed to stick to its pledge of a 12p a share dividend despite a fall in its earnings per share.

Peter Earl, head of energy at the wesbite Comparethemarket.com, said: “People are getting wise to the fact that they are probably paying too much for their energy – and British Gas is suffering customer outflows as a result.”

But Lee Wild, from Interactive Investor, added: “A sprinkling of negatives have overshadowed solid progress in key areas.”