Centrica, Britain’s Largest Energy Supplier, to Cut 4,000 Jobs
The utility shocked the market in November by saying
that its full-year adjusted earnings per share would be around 12.5 pence, against forecasts of 15 pence, largely because of its North American and British businesses were hit by tough competition and warmer-than-expected weather-cutting demand.
LONDON — Centrica, owner of British Gas and the largest energy supplier in the country, said
it would cut about 4,000 jobs by 2020 as profits fell and it continued to lose customers.
Around 12 million British households are charged some form of default tariff for their energy,
which can cost hundreds of pounds more per year than the cheapest deals on offer.
Centrica’s chief executive, Iain Conn, said the firm had a “weak” second half of 2017,
and it was not helped by political and regulatory intervention in the United Kingdom, according to Bloomberg.
British Gas, which supplies 7.8 million customers, shed 9 percent of its domestic customers in 2017.
The company reported a 17.4 percent fall in full-year operating profits, to 1.25 billion pounds, about $1.7 billion.