British Gas owner may ditch the divi yet again

CENTRICA boss Chris O’Shea probably sleeps in a tin hat. The British Gas owner has been taking fire from all sides of late.

O’Shea has been criticised for working from home as complaints soar. And British Gas apologised for failing to fix thousands of broken boilers.

Centrica posts its annual results this week. Profits are set to be about £1.6billion, which will irk those calling for a windfall tax on energy firms. It should also show customer growth for the first time since 2010, after it snared stranded customers from bust rivals.

But will it reinstate its divi? HSBC says the board must ‘consider the potential opprobrium of declaring a dividend’ amid rising bills. The bank reckons there will be no payout for a second year running.

That would be a rare bout of sensitivity from an energy giant, but would enrage armchair investors who rely on the dividend.

O’Shea may need to hunker down.