Centrica replaces chairman and makes CFO interim CEO

Centrica has replaced its chairman and appointed its chief financial officer as interim chief executive of the struggling energy provider.

The FTSE 100 company said Charles Berry would step down as chairman immediately and be replaced by Scott Wheway, who has been acting chairman since February.

Berry has been on medical leave and has quit on doctors' orders to reduce his workload. He is also chairman of Weir Group, which said it expected him to return to work in the next few weeks.

Centrica also said CFO Chris O'Shea would become CEO on an interim basis, replacing Iain Conn, who in July announced plans to leave. The company said its search for a replacement CEO was continuing.

Conn has left the board and will be available to the company until its annual general meeting in May. He announced his decision to quit after Centrica's share price plunged and the company slumped to a loss.

Centrica in February blamed the UK government's price cap on domestic energy bills, nuclear power station outages and lower gas prices for a 35% drop in annual profit. The company's shares have fallen by almost two-thirds in the past year.

Wheway, a Centrica director since 2016, said: "I'm acutely aware that I'm taking this role at a time when we need to navigate our way through the current volatility caused by the impact of coronavirus. Protecting our employees and customers is a priority for us, particularly those who are vulnerable. As a business we remain focussed on structural simplification, improving our efficiency and delivering growth in our customer facing businesses."

Centrica shares fell 3.7% to 40.76p at 08:42 GMT.