Ebico not for profit company ?

metrobus

With Ebico claiming to be a not for profit company can
some one tell me why they charge more for Electricity
than British Gas who still manage to make more than
£1 million a day profit whilst charging less?

Ebico must pay the directors massively for
the accounts to say the the company does not make
a overall profit.

All I see is that the directors get the profit in salary/bonus rather
than shareholders in dividends in other companies.

1carminestocky

metrobus wrote: »

With Ebico claiming to be a not for profit company can
some one tell me why they charge more for Electricity
than British Gas who still manage to make more than
£1 million a day profit whilst charging less?

Ebico must pay the directors massively for
the accounts to say the the company does not make
a overall profit.

All I see is that the directors get the profit in salary/bonus rather
than shareholders in dividends in other companies.

To be fair, I paid my quid and downloaded their accounts and IIRC director emollients (I'm assuming that is pay but I aint no accountant ) was approx £45,000 for the year so no fat cats there (and if you've seen some of my posts I am by no means a huge fan of the company). Having said that, there did appear to be a rather large 'surplus' in the accounts but like I said I'm no accountant so no idea what that equates to.

metrobus

1carminestocky wrote: »

Having said that, there did appear to be a rather large 'surplus' in the accounts but like I said I'm no accountant so no idea what that equates to.

I think that is what other companies call profit.

tripled

They don't give direct debit discounts, prompt payments discounts, etc, nor charge extra for prepayment meters. There is also no standing charge or 'two tier' rating structure dependant on usage. This generally makes them cheaper for low users and prepayment customers, and more expensive for direct debit payers.

The cost they pay for gas/ele may also be a factor (all companies' purchasing strategy is different; Ebico resell SSE and tend to go for longer term contracts to provide more price stability) and SSE administer the accounts, so presumably they grab a cut.

The business has to make a small profit (or it would go bankrupt). It used to say on their site that the profit was invested in social projects.

metrobus

tripled wrote: »

. It used to say on their site that the profit was invested in social projects.

Have they replaced that with "some of the profit was spent on the CEO`s new swimming pool and tennis courts " ?

tripled

I'm sure there must be a social advantage in the CEO's new swimming pool and tennis courts so it comes under the same heading

Premier_2

metrobus wrote: »

With Ebico claiming to be a not for profit company can
some one tell me why they charge more for Electricity
than British Gas who still manage to make more than
£1 million a day profit whilst charging less?....

I'm not sure ebico do charge more than BG, do they?

It's very difficult to compare because of the 2 tier pricing and discounts that may apply with BG, whereas ebico charge one flat rate for all users however they elect to pay and that includes PPM customers.

You can see the BG electicity tarriff here: http://www.britishgas.co.uk/pdf/Standard%20Electricity%20prices.pdf

As an average, they seem to charge about 24-25p per unit for tier1 and about 11-12p for tier 2 (incl of VAT)


Ebico electricty prices are here: http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/e_region.php

You''ll see they charge about 13-15p per unit flat rate.


As I said, it is difficult to calculate accurately and that is why the comparison sites exist. However, I don't see BG being even remotely competitive when I use the comparison sites for my usage.
It is true that a certain BG tariff may be competitive, but that will invariably demand:
1. Paperless billing
2. Monthly payment by DD
3. An online account (what are they on now, BG6?, 7? - see the other thread about how BG keep bringing out a new online tariff to attract new customers, but keep existing customers on existing tariffs that become uncompetitive)
4. Exit fees - to make sure they really snarl you up in (3) above.

For customers that prefer traditional bills, payment on receipt of bills or even those customers on PPMs, I'm not sure ebico are that bad compared with BG - unless you start looking at high usage, the type of customer the big 6 prefer (because higher usage means higher profit) and the type of customer the ebico business plan is not designed for.

You can read about the ebico ethos here
http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/a_ethos.php

and the basis of their business plan here:
http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/a_ebirth.php

1carminestocky

tripled wrote: »

They don't give direct debit discounts, prompt payments discounts, etc, nor charge extra for prepayment meters. There is also no standing charge or 'two tier' rating structure dependant on usage. This generally makes them cheaper for low users and prepayment customers, and more expensive for direct debit payers.

The cost they pay for gas/ele may also be a factor (all companies' purchasing strategy is different; Ebico resell SSE and tend to go for longer term contracts to provide more price stability) and SSE administer the accounts, so presumably they grab a cut.

The business has to make a small profit (or it would go bankrupt). It used to say on their site that the profit was invested in social projects.

IIRC they invested £10,000 in some youth scheme in their hometown, Witney, Oxfordshire. I wish I could find the accounts but I'm afraid I can't.

metrobus

Premier, British gas quarterly cash/cheque payment still works out cheaper on anything above 1200 units per annum which I would have thought 99% would use.

I do not think Ebico are a bad company,and wish it was more economical for
me to use them than BG who I do not like at all,I was just wondering how they claim to not make a profit when they charge more than BG who are making more than £1million aday.

1carminestocky

They don't buy their fuel 'wholesale', basically. They are effectively resellers of SSE. That's why they are never going to be influential in changing anything in the industry. They are in no way a threat to the Big 6s business model so they can basically carry on with their confusion marketing. A laudable company ethic but ultimately held back by how it has to get its 'product' IMO.

Michael_Nottingham

metrobus wrote: »

With Ebico claiming to be a not for profit company can
some one tell me why they charge more for Electricity
than British Gas who still manage to make more than
£1 million a day profit whilst charging less?

Ebico must pay the directors massively for
the accounts to say the the company does not make
a overall profit.

All I see is that the directors get the profit in salary/bonus rather
than shareholders in dividends in other companies.

Not saying whether BG or Ebico or any other supplier is cheapest (as it will be different for different customers), but British Gas should get massive economies of scale - i.e. you only need one billing system, marketing director etc. This is why you see lots of take overs and mergers as companies try to grow scale. This should mean they can either be cheaper or make more money.