£2bn profits at Centrica amid energy crisis

BRITISH Gas owner Centrica is set to announce its annual pretax profits have rocketed 188 per cent to £2.2billion on Thursday, its best result in over a decade.

The upcoming profits haul at Centrica will be its best since 2012, when it posted a £2.4billion pre-tax profit, and is likely to attract fierce criticism.

Energy companies have come under fire for raking in huge profits on the back of higher wholesale market prices, while the revelation that British Gas agents broke in to forcibly install expensive pre-payment meters at vulnerable customers’ homes has been widely criticised.

Centrica chief executive Chris O’shea is likely to apologise again for the scandal, which sparked an urgent investigation by regulator Ofgem, and prepayment meter installations across the sector were halted.

Ofgem interim director of infrastructure and security of supply Akshay Kaul said the installation of such meters should be a last resort, as they are “incredibly traumatic”, and victims of forced installations could be due compensation.

“If pre-payment meters have been incorrectly installed, that is not in compliance with the rules and if that is what the investigation ultimately concludes, then consumers have the right to have them uninstalled and the right to seek compensation,” he said. “That is what we will be asking any suppliers in that situation to do.”

Investec analyst Martin Young said that amid the cost-of-living crisis and the need to protect the vulnerable, the forced fitting of pre-payment meters was “clearly not good practice, and definitely not a good look”.

He added: “Social tariffs are needed and both energy and water companies need to go the extra mile to ensure the legitimacy of their actions.”

Analysts believe that Centrica will say that its revenues for the 12 months to the end of December shot up 45.3 per cent to £26.6billion on the back of high oil and gas prices. It is also expected to declare a 3.07p per share full-year dividend, a £178.1million payday for shareholders. That compares to its 2021 dividend of 3.5p, which was worth £201.5million. British Gas revenues are forecast to be up 53.3 per cent to £11.5billion, with those at Centrica’s energy trading arm up 230.8 per cent to £19.4billion, and its exploration and production arm soaring 11-fold to £4.6billion.

Last month Citizens Advice found that 3.2million people were cut off from their energy supply as their pre-payment meters ran out of credit and they could not afford to top up.