Cooking with gas

Big profit despite exodus

BRITISH Gas made £516million profit in the first six months of this year despite suffering a customer exodus.

About 399,000 customers ditched the suppliers between January and June – equivalent to 2200 a day.

Centrica, who own British Gas and Scottish Gas, blamed the drop to a new all-time low on competition and households leaving after a number of fixed deals came to end.

Boss Iain Conn said the firm were “not obsessed” with customer numbers”.

The drop, as well as remaining households using less energy, contributed to profits in its “home” business falling seven per cent to £516million in the first six months of this year.

However, profits had been boosted by a £23million pension credit the same time last year.

Henry de Zoete of TheBigDeal.com said: “British Gas make huge amounts of profit by charging families way more than they should be paying.

“The best deals on the market are hundreds of pounds cheaper than what the vast majority of British Gas customers pay.”

Claire Osborne of uSwitch.com said: “Their best deal is still almost £290 a year more than the cheapest on the market.”

Centrica as a whole made £853million in the six months. Of the remainder, £88million came in their exploration and production arm, down £18million.

Centrica are in the middle of a shake-up that will see them cut back on energy production but will lead to thousands of job losses.

Conn said he was disappointed the UK had voted for Brexit, arguing Britain would not have a say in crucial decision making.

He also criticised the “very expensive electricity” that would be produced by the £18billion Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.