Cold winter sees British Gas profits up 98%

Wednesday 28th July 2010

In the first half of 2010 British Gas made operating profits of £585 million, up 98 per cent; in part due to a particularly cold winter.

British Gas's parent company Centrica said the firm added 223,000 residential customers; taking it to 15.79 million.

Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica said: "Centrica has performed well in the year to date, with strong results underpinned by improved operational performance in each area of our business.

"We have a sound platform for growth with significant optionality in our investment programme. We are therefore well positioned to deliver long-term value for our shareholders while maintaining a competitive, high quality service for our customers."

But Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com, says British Gas and other firms should continue to make it cheaper for consumers to pay for their household gas. She said: "In fact, rather than speculating about price hikes, today's profits suggest that suppliers could actually afford to pass on even more benefit to consumers by cutting their prices again.

"However, I would urge all consumers not to hang around - while suppliers have cut their prices by eight per cent or £99 in total over the last couple of years, these savings pale into insignificance compared with the fact that you can save around £300 a year by moving to a competitive online plan - the biggest and best chance of a price cut many of us can expect this year."

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