Citi reiterates 'buy' on Centrica after results

The bank, which kept its price target at 120p, said it sees a further £0.5bn of cash return at 1H, taking total return to £1bn.

"We expect this to be the case even assuming a step-up of investments in a portfolio of optimization projects," it said.

"With the Ofgem EBIT review and Centrica's LNG teach-in to further improve the visibility of medium-term earnings, we see scope for further re-rating of the shares despite recent performance.

"In our view, the Centrica shares are cheap with the prospect of circa 20% from its market cap being returned over 18m, currently trading on an unchallenging one-year forward 5x P/E and 2x EV/EBITDA or 9x P/E and 4x EV/EBITDA on a normalised FY25E EPS."

On Thursday, the British Gas owner said profits had more than tripled to a record £3.3bn, driven by soaring wholesale gas prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.