British Gas Owner Centrica Shares Edged Up 5.4% on Q2 Profits

The British Gas owner Centrica PLC (LON: CNA) share price edged 5.4% higher after releasing its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2023. The company reported an adjusted operating profit of £2.1 billion versus H1 2022’s £1.3 billion, leading to adjusted basic EPS of 25.8p from last year’s 11.0p.

The energy company reported a statutory operating profit of £6.5 billion, significantly improving from last year’s £1.1 billion loss. The impressive statutory profit was fueled by the £4.7 billion profit from unwinding “unrealised losses from UK energy supply hedging positions at the end of 2022”.

Centrica reported group free cash flows of £1.4 billion, marking an improvement from last year’s £0.6 billion figure. Profits from its British Gas division soared 900% to £969 million during the six months, from £98 million in the previous year. 

The company’s record-breaking profits have triggered another outcry about the high profits made by energy companies amid a cost of living crisis in the United Kingdom that has seen many households struggle to meet their daily needs. 

Calls for even bigger windfall taxes on energy companies are likely to mount as many decry their environmental impact due to the pollution caused by fossil fuels, including natural gas, crude oil and liquified petroleum gas. 

Centrica also highlighted its refreshed business strategy focused on the energy transition via a balanced portfolio with leading market positions, where each business complements, de-risks and adds value to other parts of the portfolio.

Centrica’s Group CEO Chris O'Shea said: “Nothing is more important than delivering for our customers -it's why we are here. Today's results allow us to increase our customer support package to more than £100m, and the new green investment strategy we've announced will see us invest several billion pounds in the energy transition, creating thousands of new well-paid jobs. Our robust balance sheet has allowed us to invest heavily in the UK and Ireland's energy security and will make sure that our customers have cleaner energy at the right price.”

*This is not investment advice. 

Centrica share price. 

The Centrica share price rallied 5.40% to trade at 130.85p, from Wednesday's closing price of 124.15p.