Dec 15, 2016
British Gas stems number of households switching to rivals
British Gas has stemmed the number of UK households switching to other providers since the end of June, as the "Big six" utility companies respond to regulatory and government pressure to lower bills for customers. Centrica, the owner of Britain's biggest energy supplier to homes, said UK energy accounts have been "Broadly flat" since the end of June, a turnround from the first six months of the year, when British Gas lost nearly 400,000 customers to rival suppliers. British Gas has been trying to keep hold of customers through new energy tariffs, while it recently announced it would freeze bills for customers on its standard rate this winter. The improvement in the UK market came as Centrica said in a trading update on Thursday it expected to exceed a number of financial targets for 2016 as it reaped the benefits of a cost-cutting programme and a "Strong" energy marketing and trading performance. Centrica expects adjusted operating cash flow to be between £2.4bn and £2.6bn for the full year, up from previous guidance that indicated cash flow would be "In excess of" £2bn. Group capital investment for 2016 is expected to be around £900m. The company had originally indicated that it would be "No more than £1bn". Adjusted earnings per share for the full year are expected to be around 16.5p, Centrica said in the update ahead of its full-year results, which will be released on February 23.
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