British Gas owner Centrica sees supply profits soar by nearly 900% on price cap boost

British Gas owner Centrica has revealed that earnings at its retail supplier business soared by nearly 900% as it was handed a price cap boost of around £500m.

The energy giant said underlying earnings at its gas and electricity supply arm leaped 889% to £969m in the six months to June 30 from £98m a year earlier.

It said the result was buoyed as Ofgem’s price cap in the first half of the year – when customers saw their bills limited to £2,500 a year under the Energy Price Guarantee – allowed it to recoup losses seen a year earlier – to the tune of about £500 million.

Overall, Centrica swung to a £6.5bn operating profit in the first six months of the year against operating losses of £1.1bn a year earlier.

On an underlying basis, operating profits rose to £2.1bn from £1.3bn a year ago.

Last year Centrica more than tripled its adjusted operating profit, which reached £3.3bn in 2022 amid turbulence in global energy markets.

Big swings in energy prices helped the company’s energy marketing and trading division, which made £1.4bn in profit during the year, an enormous 1,900% increase from the year before.

Oil giant Shell reported on Thursday its profits have more than halved in the second quarter compared to its bumper 2022, and the business fell short of expectations.

The fossil fuel company said that its adjusted earnings had reached just under £3.9bn in the three months, down from £8.9 billion a year earlier.

Analysts had expected adjusted earnings to reach close to £4.3bn during the period.