Report earnings ‘are a further sign of Britain’s damaged vitality system’

British Gas sparked fury yesterday after making “obscene” earnings whereas thousands and thousands of households endure monetary distress.

Parent firm Centrica revealed it pocketed £969million within the six months to June 30 – an increase of 889% on the £98million made final 12 months.

The eye-watering sum got here amid vitality worth cap rises that pushed many households to the brink, with others unable to activate heating.

Last night time, campaigners have been left outraged by the news. Simon Francis, of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, mentioned: “These profits are a further sign of Britain’s broken energy system.

“At a time when household energy debt is spiralling to record levels and energy bills remain double what they were just a few years ago, the profits posted will be greeted with disbelief by those struggling.”

James Taylor, of incapacity equality charity Scope, mentioned: “It’s obscene energy companies continue to make massive profits while people can’t afford to charge wheelchairs and stairlifts and still have huge energy debt. We need a social energy tariff, a discounted rate, for disabled people to put an end to sky-high energy bills.”

Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow, in Tyne and Wear, tweeted that British Gas earnings have been “actually sickening”. She mentioned the Government “must stop allowing grotesque profiteering at the expense of our communities”.

And Shadow Energy Secretary Ed Miliband mentioned households have been “paying the price” for vitality corporations’ “huge profits from windfalls of war”.

Consumers additionally hit out. Susan Donnelly, 64, from East London, who suffers with spinal and bowel circumstances, emphysema and bronchial asthma, mentioned: “I don’t understand why bills are going up when energy companies are making so much profit. I’ve always paid my bills on time until now. I can’t just magic up £300 out of thin air, so I have to either let it accrue or risk taking out a loan.

“I can’t remember the last time I had a cooked meal. Even if I could afford the food, I’d be scared to turn the oven on for the amount it would cost. I can’t even afford to cook a meal. Instead, I live mainly on cereal, as that’s all I can afford. I don’t use my heating, instead I have a halogen fire in my bedroom and I confine myself to that one room all day to stay warm.

“We’re being treated like we’re at the bottom of the ladder. We are being trodden into the ground until we have nothing.”

Amid widespread anger on the mind-boggling numbers, Centrica claimed the majority of its huge leap in earnings was not right down to a windfall from excessive vitality costs however from a discount in debt-related prices.

Energy regulator Ofgem’s worth cap supplies an allowance to account for debt on vitality payments that can’t be recovered by ­suppliers and is finally written off.

Centrica mentioned this meant some £500million was introduced in underneath the scheme in the course of the first six months of the 12 months. Energy corporations noticed revenue margins battered final 12 months when wholesale costs surged within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Centrica reported adjusted working earnings of £2.1billion – up from £1.3billion booked in the identical interval final 12 months.

This was regardless of a £250million hit from wholesale vitality losses on family payments attributable to curbs on what suppliers are in a position to cost.

Ofgem’s client worth cap is presently £2,074 a 12 months, which stays £1,000 above its pre-pandemic common, regardless of the prices of oil and pure fuel tumbling.

The present stage features a premium for suppliers to recoup a few of final 12 months’s losses to forestall a brand new wave of provider failures. Experts had predicted that the cap would stay at round £2,000 a 12 months because the cost-of-living disaster enters its third winter.

But final night time business analysts Cornwall Insight mentioned they anticipated the value cap for a typical twin gasoline, direct debit client would fall to £1,860 from October. The cap is then projected to rise to round £1,960 in January, earlier than small decreases in March and July.

Ofgem mentioned: “After four years of loss-making, the energy retail sector is expected to return to profit this year. The profits we’ll see for the first half of this year are a one-off as suppliers recoup some of the significant costs and losses they incurred over recent years due to Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We expect profit levels to fall back significantly moving forward.”