Centrica announced that it has delivered a “strong operational performance” in its Q1 trading update for 2022 and anticipates EPS for the full year to be around the top end of analyst expectations said the group on Tuesday.
The range of 2022 adjusted profits per share from 8 sell-side analyst projections issued since Centrica’s 2021 preliminary results announcement on February 24, 2022, is 6.7p to 10.8p as of 9 May 2022.
Centrica says supply chain disruption and rising inflation have had an impact on both the cost base and consumer demand at British Gas Services & Solutions.
For the length of this time of increased inflation, Centrica expects such challenges to continue to at least somewhat offset underlying operational progress.
However, volumes from its nuclear and gas production assets in the UK have been strong, and the Energy Marketing & Trading business has both managed to secure larger volumes of gas and renewable energy to enhance the UK and Europe’s security of supply while also managing increased commodity price volatility well, helping British Gas Energy to perform well.
Considerable uncertainties persist for the rest of the year, including weather effects, commodity price fluctuations, asset performance, and the possibility of additional bad debt costs due to current inflationary pressures in the UK.
Centrica is spending more than £50m on its customers, including 500 new customer care positions in British Gas Energy, 1,000 new engineering apprenticeships in the UK, and the British Gas Energy Support Fund, which offers subsidies of up to £750 to help consumers pay their energy bills.
Subject to Norwegian regulatory approvals, the sale of Spirit Energy Norway is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. The group has begun to consider longer-term options for repurposing Spirit Energy’s UK assets to help with the energy transition.
Centrica is still exploring alternatives for converting its Rough and Easington facilities to meet the UK’s hydrogen goals.
The company’s 2022 Interim Results are set for July 28, 2022, and Centrica plans to offer an update on its corporate objectives and financial structure at that time.
Centrica shares rose 3.3% to 74.3p after announcing the optimistic update for 2022 in its Q1 trading update.
