High oil and gas prices and strong demand amidst colder weather helped British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) to boost underlying operating profit by 14 per cent in the year to £2.7bn. The group will also return £500m to shareholders in the coming year through a share buy-back programme.
A trebling in gas production from the Norwegian assets, combined with high prices, drove a 20 per cent increase in the Centrica Energy unit's operating profit to £1.23bn. Total investment in new assets reached £2.7bn in 2012, up from £1.4bn, which helped increased reserves by 28 per cent to 525m barrels of oil equivalent. British Gas, meanwhile, boosted operating profit 9 per cent to £1.09bn as customers used 12 per cent more gas during the colder weather and this, when combined with higher gas prices, offset the loss of 225,000 customer accounts, to 15.6m. The Centrica power business grew profit 22 per cent, despite total generation being down 20 per cent - that's because gas-based generation was cut 40 per cent as margins (known as spark spreads) remained low. However, finance director Nick Luff warned that the end of free carbon allowances will add significant pressures to the gas generation business.
Deutsche Bank expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £2.7bn, and EPS of 26.96p (from £2.7bn and 27.1p in 2012).
CENTRICA (CNA) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 346p | MARKET VALUE: | £18bn | |
| TOUCH: | 345.8-346.2p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 359p | LOW: 296p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.7% | PE RATIO: | 14 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 114p* | NET DEBT: | 68% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£bn) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 20.9 | 0.66 | -3.30 | 12.2 |
| 2009 | 22.0 | 1.00 | 16.5 | 12.8 |
| 2010 | 22.4 | 2.81 | 37.6 | 14.3 |
| 2011 | 22.8 | 1.27 | 8.60 | 15.4 |
| 2012 | 23.9 | 2.44 | 24.6 | 16.4 |
| % change | +5 | +92 | +186 | +6 |
Ex-div: 24 Apr Payment: 12 Jun *Includes intangible assets of £4.1bn, or 79p a share | ||||
