Ex-Towergate boss Mark Hodges is named new British Gas manager April 14, 2015 INSURANCE veteran Mark Hodges has been appointed as managing director of British Gas, taking over from interim manager Ian Peters. In his new role, which he takes up from 1 June, Hodges will be paid a basic salary of £625,000, as well as an annual bonus of up to 100 per cent of his salary [...]
Best of the Brokers for 23 April 2015 April 22, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Shore Capital reiterated its “hold” rating on the food processing group, which owns Primark. The broker predicts that downward pressure on Primark’s margins will continue, but added: “Primark’s progress has never been, and should never be expected to be a [...]
Last winter of discontent hits Centrica profits July 31, 2014 The temperature just wasn’t right for profits at British Gas owner Centrica last winter, as group profits were walloped by an extreme polar freeze in the US, contrasting with a mild UK winter. Operating profits at Centrica plummeted 40 per cent in the first half of 2014, down to £890m from £1.49bn over the same [...]
Energy price falls prompt British Gas owner to slash dividend February 19, 2015 CENTRICA, Britain’s largest utility company, yesterday slashed its annual dividend by 21 percent and forecast further cuts on the back of declining energy prices. New chief executive Ian Conn, appointed in January, also announced a strategic review to be concluded in time for the company’s interim results in July. Conn said: “2014 was a very [...]
Iain Conn named new boss of Centrica July 29, 2014 Iain Conn has been appointed chief executive of Centrica, the company that owns British Gas. He will take up the position at start of next year, after current chief executive Sam Laidlaw retires from the board. Conn is currently the head of refining and marketing at BP, and has been appointed by Centrica [...]
Energy giants stall FTSE’s rise – London Report February 19, 2015 BRITAIN’S top equity index yesterday edged down from multi-year highs, with utility Centrica weighing on the market after cutting its dividend. The blue chip FTSE 100 index, which had risen to a 15-year high of 6,921.32 points on Wednesday, fell 0.1 per cent to 6,888.90 points. British Gas owner Centrica was the worst-performing FTSE 100 [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 February 2015 February 17, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com CENTRICA Whitman Howard reiterated its “buy” rating for the utilities firm, ahead of its full-year results. The broker said the falling oil price will impact forward profitability but added that while a dividend cut has been mooted in the market, such a move [...]
Energy bills: Customers are missing out on up to £234 savings from big six energy suppliers February 18, 2015 The majority of people are missing out on big savings by not switching energy supplier. An investigation into the dominance of the big six energy firms – Centrica, EDF, NPower, SSE, E.On and RWE- has found customers are missing out on hundreds of pounds of savings. The interim findings from the Competition and Markets Authority [...]
BP’s Iain Conn in talks to take Centrica top job July 24, 2014 CENTRICA finally confirmed yesterday that it was in talks with BP’s Iain Conn over the possibility of him taking over the top role from Sam Laidlaw. Oil major BP announced yesterday afternoon that Conn was stepping down by the end of the year after almost three decades at the company, prompting a statement from the [...]
London Report: Lloyds and Centrica pull down FTSE but Shell prevents rout July 31, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index yesterday fell as Lloyds Bank pulled down financial stocks, while concerns about the impact on Europe from tensions between Russia and Ukraine also made traders wary. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.6 per cent, or 43.33 points, at 6,730.11 points. Shares in Lloyds, which had risen for the [...]