British Gas owner Centrica has reported a rise in half-year profits, after the unusually cold winter boosted gas consumption.
Centrica's adjusted operating profit rose 9% to £1.58bn for the six months to 30 June, up from £1.45bn for the same period in 2012.
British Gas' residential arm saw profits rise 3% to £356m, up from £345m a year earlier.
It attracted criticism after raising energy prices by 6% in November 2012.
Centrica said "significantly higher environmental and commodity costs" had affected British Gas Residential's operating profits, despite gas consumption rising 13% compared with the same period last year.
Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw said: "With our customers using more gas to stay warm during the unusually cold winter, we're doing everything we can to help them keep their energy costs under control and make bills simpler and clearer."
British Gas has introduce a Tariff Checker to help its customers work out if they are on the cheapest tariff, but rising profits are still likely to attract criticism from consumer groups.
Centrica said it expected British Gas Residential's full-year operating profits to be "broadly in line" with 2012's figure of £606m.
The company said the cost of complying with the government-imposed Energy Company Obligation (ECO), aimed at helping low-income households with their heating bills and reducing carbon emissions through insulation, would be £1.4bn by the time the scheme ends in 2015.
AcquisitionsOn Tuesday, Centrica announced that it had bought the energy marketing business of Hess Corporation in a $1bn (£657m) deal that makes its Direct Energy subsidiary the largest business-to-business gas supplier in the eastern United States.
In June, Centrica also spent £44m on a 25% stake in a shale gas exploration licence in Bowland, Lancashire, owned by Cuadrilla Resources and AJ Lucas.
The company has agreed to contribute a further £56m towards future exploration and appraisal costs associated with the project.
Centrica's results come a day after French energy company EDF reported UK pre-tax profits of £903m and said it was pulling out of the US nuclear power market because of the widespread availability of shale gas.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Profits rise at British Gas owner
Dengan url
http://sarapanoatmeal.blogspot.com/2013/07/profits-rise-at-british-gas-owner.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Profits rise at British Gas owner
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Profits rise at British Gas owner
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar