Centrica profit rises after cold snap February 24, 2011 British utility Centrica reported a sharp rise in full-year profit, boosted by higher power demand during the severe winter and as it added more residential customers. Centrica, which owns Britain’s biggest household energy supplier British Gas, reported an adjusted operating profit of £2.39bn, on sales marginally higher at £22.4bn. “British Gas has had a strong [...]
THE TIPSTER September 26, 2011 WITH Thomas Cook set to serve up results later in the week, it’s difficult to see much cheer for the industry against the current economic backdrop. The company has already revised down guidance for the full year and even the prospect of plummeting oil prices is unlikely to deliver any positive sentiment. Current IG Markets [...]
PERSONALITY | OF THE YEAR September 21, 2011 There was a strong case for each of the business titans on the shortlist for City A.M.’s prestigious personality of the year award. Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of Glencore, pulled off the largest-ever float in London earlier this year, while Burberry chief Angela Ahrendts has done an “outstanding” job since taking the helm of the [...]
Centrica’s US unit agrees to buy New York rival for £55m in cash March 21, 2011 CENTRICA has reported that its North American subsidiary, Direct Energy, has agreed to acquire the New York-based energy retailer Gateway Energy Services for $90m (£55m) in cash. Gateway has more than 275,000 gas and electricity customer accounts, located mainly in New York State, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This acquisition will further strengthen Direct Energy’s position [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 20, 2011 ROLLS ROYCE Goldman Sachs rates the engine maker a “buy” with an 850p target price on its conviction buy list, as it believes it is well placed compared to its peers and has strong long-term growth prospects. The stock has more defensive characteristics than many cyclicals and should outperform, GS believes. The soon-to-close Tognum acquisition [...]
Ofgem fines British Gas £2.5m July 27, 2011 Energy regulator Ofgem is to fine Centrica’s British Gas, the country’s biggest household energy supplier, £2.5m for breaching regulations related to the handling of customer complaints. The complaint handling regulations took effect from October 2008 and set out the service that domestic and micro-business energy customers should expect from energy companies if they raise a [...]
Ofgem fines British Gas £2.5m July 27, 2011 Energy regulator Ofgem is to fine Centrica’s British Gas, the country’s biggest household energy supplier, £2.5m for breaching regulations related to the handling of customer complaints. The complaint handling regulations took effect from October 2008 and set out the service that domestic and micro-business energy customers should expect from energy companies if they raise a [...]
Npower slaps its customers with big hike in energy bills August 16, 2011 UTILITY group npower is raising household energy bills by 12.2 per cent from October, putting increased pressure on consumer spending already dampened by the rising cost of living. The utility said the increases, which work out to 37p extra per day for dual-fuel customers, were due to volatile trading conditions in wholesale energy markets compounded [...]
British Gas to announce hike in its energy bills later this month July 4, 2011 BRITISH GAS is poised to announce the rise of gas and electricity prices as early as this month, with families facing increased bills of up to 20 per cent. Analysts expect its parent company Centrica to announce price increases of at least 15 per cent ahead of its half year results on 28 July to [...]
FTSE pegged back as US debt dominates July 28, 2011 The FTSE 100 started on the back foot in early trading as the saga surrounding the US debt crisis continued to pile pressure on world markets. A glut of major corporate results revealed mixed fortunes as giants like BT, Centrica and AstraZeneca reported. With US politicians still tussling over whether to raise the country’s debt [...]