British Gas profits soar but parent Centrica suffers as oil and gas prices plummet
British Gas has shrugged off fears over the mild winter and reported a 31% rise in full-year operating profit.
It made £574 million in operating profit from residential energy supply in the year to December 31, compared with £439 million a year earlier, "with consumption returning to more normal levels following a mild 2014".
The results come after it joined its Big Six rivals in cutting its prices - a move that followed calls from consumer groups for energy providers to pass on the benefits of lower wholesale gas prices to customers.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">People wake up in a cold house, afraid to turn the heating on: turn on the news and see British Gas boast of their 31% profit rise. — Oliver James (@OliverJamesUK) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/OliverJamesUK/status/700226119799336960" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3183161-https://twitter.com/OliverJamesUK/status/700226119799336960" data-vars-event-id="c23">February 18, 2016</a>
Wholesale gas prices have plummeted by more than 50% in recent months.
That decline, however, was blamed for a drop in revenue and profit at parent company Centrica.
Total group revenue was down 5% at £28 billion, while adjusted operating profit was down 12% at £1.5 billion.
Centrica has been cutting costs to adapt to the "challenging environment" and last week said it would axe around 500 jobs.
Centrica also said it would cut the full-year dividend by 11% to 12p per share from 13.5p per share last year.
