British Gas has reported a sharp drop in profits for the first half of the year due to warmer weather.
Residential supply operating profit fell by a quarter to ?265m, owner Centrica said. Operating profit at the parent company was down 35% at ?1.03bn.
Centrica said the average annual British Gas customer bill would be ?90 lower this year than in 2013.
On Wednesday, regulator Ofgem said the big six energy firms were set to double profit margins over the next year.
The industry accused Ofgem of using inaccurate figures.
"We had warmer weather in the UK which meant that actually our average customer's consumption of gas was down 24%," Centrica's chief executive Sam Laidlaw told the BBC.
"We actually also simultaneously had very cold weather in the US - the polar vortex - which resulted in generating companies charging us with a lot of additional ancillary costs.
BBC News - British Gas profits hit by warmer weather
The last 2 lines more or less say it all.... "We didn't make enough profit because it's warmer, so we'll hike the price another way until we make more money"
Expect price rises soon.
Residential supply operating profit fell by a quarter to ?265m, owner Centrica said. Operating profit at the parent company was down 35% at ?1.03bn.
Centrica said the average annual British Gas customer bill would be ?90 lower this year than in 2013.
On Wednesday, regulator Ofgem said the big six energy firms were set to double profit margins over the next year.
The industry accused Ofgem of using inaccurate figures.
"We had warmer weather in the UK which meant that actually our average customer's consumption of gas was down 24%," Centrica's chief executive Sam Laidlaw told the BBC.
"We actually also simultaneously had very cold weather in the US - the polar vortex - which resulted in generating companies charging us with a lot of additional ancillary costs.
BBC News - British Gas profits hit by warmer weather
The last 2 lines more or less say it all.... "We didn't make enough profit because it's warmer, so we'll hike the price another way until we make more money"
Expect price rises soon.
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