Centrica profits surge amid rising gas prices

Adjusted operating profit for the year to December 31 rose to £948m from £447m a year earlier. Record wholesale energy prices have forced 29 energy suppliers to leave the UK market since last August.

The company also said it had has repaid a £27mn government furlough loan used during the Covod-19 pandemic and held back chief executive Chris O’Shea's bonus £1.1m bonus.

“We believe we need to see significant change to address the underlying issues in the UK's complex energy regulations, by simplifying and strengthening regulations to protect customers and to ensure a crisis of this sort never happens again,” the British Gas owner said.

The average UK bill will In April rise to almost £2,000, an increase of around, driven primarily by high gas prices. Customer choice has shrunk markedly over the last year as small market players found themselves unable to cope with the massive spike in wholesale prices.

“Consumers ultimately pay for supplier failures through future energy tariffs or taxation, so we believe the energy retail market requires stronger prudential regulation to ensure those involved in the industry are fit and proper, companies have adequate capital and monitored risk management procedures, and customer deposits are protected,” Centric said.

Centrica said its 2022 outlook was broadly positive, but cautioned that “high and volatile wholesale commodity prices and a changing regulatory environment create a wider range of outcomes than normal”.

The company has sought to reinvent itself as an energy services provider, selling upstream assets, including its North America-based Direct Energy division in early 2021 for $3.6bn to US integrated power business NRG Energy.

No dividend was declared, but Centrica said it was on a “clear path” to resume payouts.