British Gas-owner Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA)’s profits tumbled in the first half as gas prices normalised and the bumper profits it made from the energy cap washed through.
Striping those exceptional gains out profits still halved to £1 billion (£2.1 billion last year), but the British Gas owner upped its interim dividend by 13% to 1.5p and extended its share buyback by £200 million cash balances rose to £3.2 billion.
Underlying profits at British Gas dropped 84% even though customer numbers stayed flat at around 7.48 million.
Another weak area currently is the Rough storage facility, though the residential services are doing better and continue to recover.
Chris O’Shea, chief executive, said the results reflected the more normalised conditions in the energy market.
Results this year will be heavily first-half weighted, he added, with cash holdings to decline as capital expenditure ramps up and dividends are paid out.