Centrica appoints CFO Chris O'Shea as permanent CEO

Centrica has appointed Chief Financial Officer Chris O'Shea as its permanent chief executive less than a month after he took the job on an interim basis.

The owner of British Gas said O'Shea would start as CEO with immediate effect. He replaced Iain Conn on 17 March eight months after Conn announced his intention to leave the struggling energy company.

O'Shea joined Centrica in November 2018 as CFO. Scott Wheway, who became Centrica's chairman in March, said he had assessed all candidates before making the decision.

Conn announced his departure after Centrica's share price plunged and the company slumped to a heavy loss. Centrica has started its search for a new CFO.

O'Shea will have to navigate Centrica through the Covid-19 crisis. The FTSE 100 company cancelled its dividend, cut capital spending and delayed the planned sale of its Spirit Energy business in early April to cushion the impact of the virus. It reported a big reduction in energy use by business customers and said it expected rising bad debts and delays to payments.

Wheway said: "In the last few weeks since my appointment I have completed a review of both the internal and external candidates for this role and have come to the conclusion that Chris is comprehensively the best candidate for Centrica.

"The board is confident that he is the right leader to navigate Centrica through and beyond the present Covid-19 crisis focusing on the welfare of our colleagues and customers, the financial resilience of the company and the agility to move quickly when we emerge from these unprecedented circumstances."