Backlash over £1.3bn profits for British Gas as bills soar

THE owner of British Gas is facing a backlash today after the company announced a five-fold increase in profits and plans to reinstate paying dividends to shareholders, despite millions of households facing a squeeze as energy bills soar.

- David Bond

Boosted by higher revenues from its oil and gas business, Centrica said today its operating profits had increased to £1.3 billion in the first six months of the year from £262 million during the same period last year. At the same time, the firm said it would pay a dividend of 1p per share to shareholders for the first time in two years.

Centrica's chief executive Chris O'Shea acknowledged the UK was facing a "difficult winter" but he defended the company, saying: "The source of our profits is not rising customer energy bills. I know it’s difficult to see the words ‘dividend’ or ‘profits’ when people are suffering... but we’re paying a windfall tax of well over £600 million pounds... so a lot of this is going back into society.”