Centrica Shares Jump As Earnings Expectations Tops Estimates

Centrica (LON: CNA) shares jumped Thursday after the company posted a trading update saying it has continued to deliver a strong operational performance since its last update in November.

The energy services company's shares are trading more than 5% higher at the time of writing, adding to its substantial gains over the last few months. In the last 12 months, Centrica's stock price has risen 28%, while it has rallied 36% in the last three months.

The company told investors in its statement that it currently expects to report fiscal 2022 full-year adjusted earnings per share of above 30p. That is a significant rise on its 4p per-share earnings and pre-tax profit of £761 million in 2021, while it also tops the consensus estimate of 22p a share, according to Bloomberg.

In November, Centrica said it expected full-year adjusted earnings per share to be towards the top end of the range of sell-side analyst expectations.

The company said Thursday that infrastructure asset availability and volumes have remained good, and it has delivered “incrementally strong optimisation performance.”

Cash generation has also been good, Centrica stated, adding that it sees 2022 closing net cash above £1 billion.

According to TipRanks, out of 11 analysts, 10 have a Buy rating on Centrica, with one assigning the stock a Hold rating. The average price target is 123.27p, representing a potential 27.87% upside from current levels.