Npower, EDF Energy, E.On UK, Scottish Power and SSE to follow British Gas price cuts July 15, 2015 Analysts forecast last night that Britain’s remaining big five energy groups will quickly follow British Gas and cut gas prices for a further 28m households. British Gas, owned by Centrica, yesterday cut gas bills by five per cent – the second reduction in six months. The cut will come into effect for its [...]
Britain facing winter of blackouts as National Grid warns of tightest power supply in a decade July 15, 2015 Britain could be facing a winter of blackouts, with National Grid warning of the tightest winter power supplies in a decade. The country now has just 1.2 per cent of spare capacity in the system, down from 4.1 per cent last year, according to the winter review and consultation showed. It is mostly because [...]
Competition and Markets Authority sets out its plans to increase competition in the energy markets, sending Centrica and SSE share prices down July 7, 2015 Shares in energy providers dipped in early trading, after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) outlined a raft of measures aimed at increasing competition in the energy market. Shares in SSE fell 0.5 per cent to 1,566p while London-listed Centrica shares dropped 0.6 per cent to 265.9p, after a wide-ranging report attacked the UK's "Big [...]
Wind energy subsidies will end next April June 18, 2015 The government has moved forward the end date for onshore wind energy subsidies, it revealed yesterday. The Department of Energy and Climate Change will close the renewables obligation to new onshore wind generating stations from 1 April 2016. The Conservatives had pledged to stop the subsidies in their manifesto ahead of the General Election, however [...]
UK to get more gas from a Russian firm as Centrica extends deals with Gazprom May 13, 2015 The UK's dependency on gas from Russian firms just increased, after Centrica signed a deal with state energy giant Gazprom – as well as Norwegian rival Statoil – to ramp up the amount of gas it buys from the companies. Centrica, which owns British Gas, said it had extended its contracts with Statoil and Gazprom [...]
Centrica expects choppy waters ahead as low oil and gas prices continue to weigh on peformance April 27, 2015 Centrica said this morning that the continued weight of low commodity prices meant it was unable to revise up the gloomy forecast it gave investors in February. The company's preliminary results, released on 19 February, revealed a full-year net loss of £1bn and left dividends slashed by 30 per cent. Also in that statement, the [...]
Centrica names new British Gas chief executive April 14, 2015 Centrica has named the new chief executive of its British Gas arm: former Aviva boss Mark Hodges will take over at the beginning of June. At a time when energy companies – particularly former state-owned ones – are at the centre of a political football game, few in the industry will envy Hodges' new role. [...]
British Gas owner Centrica warns political uncertainty could hit investment March 26, 2015 British Gas owner Centrica yesterday warned that the run-up to the 7 May election would have a knock-on effect on investment in the UK energy sector. “The UK market faces potential pressure in both the run-up to the UK General Election and in the policy decisions taken by the next government,” Centrica said in its [...]
Centrica share price dives as it cuts dividend by 30pc after £1bn net loss February 19, 2015 The figures Share in Centrica fell eight per cent after it was left reeling from the double hit of a warm year and falling oil prices. The company has been forced to write down the value of its oil and gas assets and has decided to cut its dividend by 30 per cent, while making [...]
HSBC needs to re-learn its ABCs, or better still, its KYCs February 18, 2015 PLAC, CRD-4, the FCA and the PRA: but for HSBC, the most important acronym in the banking lexicon right now is KYC (Know Your Customer). Since inheriting the reins of Europe’s largest bank four years ago, Stuart Gulliver has rarely been out of his firefighter’s overalls. On many of those occasions it was the bank’s [...]