MSE News: British Gas profits up, months after hiking prices

custardy

dude89 wrote: »

Seems like we have the same discussions year on year.

exactly what I was thinking

redux

dude89 wrote: »

Whether or not we agree with the profit companies make, I'm sure these sensationalist headlines help with referrals to comparison websites etc.


I look forward to this discussion again next year

You're probably right

I'm also pretty bored with them parrotting supermarket press releases about falling fuel forecourt prices, but never an increase, and the one which they highlight the most hasn't been the cheapest around here for months

Cardew

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Was just going to post this. Totally different company.

Not totally different.

The shares that 'Sid' sold the British Public('selling off the family silver') in 1986 have 'morphed' into BG group. i.e. any of the millions of people who bought shares, and retained them, now hold shares in BG group and Centrica.

http://www.bg-group.com/InvestorRelations/ShareholderServices/Pages/Shares-privatisationanddemergers.aspx

1. When was British Gas privatised?


8 December 1986.
2. What was the privatisation share price?


Shares were offered at 135p each. Payment was by instalments of 50p, 45p and 40p.
3. When was Centrica demerged?

The demerger of Centrica was on 17 February 1997, at which time BG plc came into existence.

4. What were the closing share prices of Centrica plc and BG plc on their first day of trading, 17 February 1997?

Centrica plc 64.25p and BG plc 173.25p.


5. When did BG Group plc come into existence?


BG Group plc replaced BG plc as the main holding company on 13 December 1999, following a capital restructuring.


6. When was Lattice demerged?

The demerger of Lattice was on 23 October 2000.

7. What were the closing share prices of Lattice plc and BG Group plc on the first day of trading of Lattice plc, 23 October 2000?


Lattice plc 153.25p and BG Group plc 270p.
8. I need additional information on the BG Group share price history for capital gains tax purposes?


Additional information is available from this
link


9. I have British Gas plc and/or BG plc share certificates, what should I do with them?

These certificates are no longer valid and should be destroyed.

10. What should I do with my certificate(s) for BG plc B shares?

This certificate is no longer valid and should be destroyed. All B shares have either been purchased by the company or converted to ordinary shares in BG Group.

However I do concede I was wrong about the connection with BG retail.

antrobus

Cardew wrote: »

...
So if BG are 'a totally different company' and given all the talk in this and other threads about shareholders and dividends etc - how do you buy shares in this different company?

Open an account with a stockbroker.

Cardew wrote: »

...
and where does the £xxx million profit go?

Go to http://www.bg-group.com and have a look at their most recent financial statements, that should have the info.

Nada666

ashleyriot wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21598504

And specifically:

"Profits from its residential energy supply arm rose 11% from a year earlier to £606m."

And in your example, a rise of profit from 4.5% to 5.0% is only 0.5% but it is a percentage increase of (5.0 - 4.5) / 4.5 = 0.11111 or 11.1%.

_bangs head against table_

Are you being serious??? Do you genuinely not understand? Or are you just playing silly !!!!!!s for the hell of it?

Nowhere in that BBC story does it say that profit margins have increased. In fact, in the very same paragraph where it points out that profits have increased by 11% it goes on to say that CONSUMPTION increased by 12%. That is a bleeding DECREASE in profit margin by any measure.

And your analysis of my profit margin figures (not profit figures) - your sums agree with what I said. But for some reason you are making a contrary conclusion that makes no sense.

Nada666

Consumerist wrote: »

So why comment on it?

Crivens. Another one.

Uh, because others are falsely pretending there is a story.

Consumerist wrote: »

So, how does this work for consumers who are being urged by Government to reduce energy usage? It's not going to reduce bills if the energy companies are going to compensate by raising prices by more than is justified.

What has that got to do with these reports - nowhere in the reports does it provide evidence that this happened. Indeed, they suggest the opposite (ie, that profits have only risen in line with consumption (if anything slightly less)).

Consumerist wrote: »

I notice, however, that you don't quote any sources for your assertions.

Are you an investor or an employee of the gas industry, I wonder?

I have not made any assertions - I have only repeated information given from the same stories that everyone else is reading (and made one calculation to find what 11% less than 5 is). All I have said is that the scaremongering headlines are not supported by the body of the story. And no such counter information has been provided by you or others.

(I am neither an investor nor an employee nor do I play one on television.)

Cardew

antrobus wrote: »

Open an account with a stockbroker.



.

To buy what share?

cepheus

I have to say that the criticism of this on the TV was pathetic. It amounted to, this is a profit making company and at least shareholders will benefit.

We have a regulator because this is not just any old profit making company, it was privatised, given away/stolen from the public purse, nearly all those shares have been sold off to the big institutions, and those profits are being acquired by the few. It's no good saying but we gain in pensions and ISAs. Some people do, the richer 10% who own enough shares to offset their bills.

as the wider Centrica group reported operating profits of £2.7bn – up 14% and announced plans to spend £500m buying back shares while raising the dividend 5% to 16.4p.

Nick Luff, the finance director, said it was fair to give back cash to investors given Centrica had raised £2bn for funding nuclear power stations, plans which have now been dropped.

He dismissed the suggestion the cash should be invested in operations pointing out the company was already spending £2.7bn a year building new offshore gas supplies and wind farms. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/27/british-gas-price-profit-rise-centrica

ashleyriot

Nada666 wrote: »

_bangs head against table_

Are you being serious??? Do you genuinely not understand? Or are you just playing silly !!!!!!s for the hell of it?

Nowhere in that BBC story does it say that profit margins have increased. In fact, in the very same paragraph where it points out that profits have increased by 11% it goes on to say that CONSUMPTION increased by 12%. That is a bleeding DECREASE in profit margin by any measure.

And your analysis of my profit margin figures (not profit figures) - your sums agree with what I said. But for some reason you are making a contrary conclusion that makes no sense.

Please allow me to be the first to welcome to you to the MSE forums; your genuine style with no patronisation is what this forum needs.

A profit margin is the marginal profit on each unit; it doesn't matter how many units are sold (this only affects total profit) but if the number of units sold decreases then the profit margin on each unit must increase if a company wishes to make more profit - or the same profit.

It can do this by increasing the gross price of the unit or by reducing the costs involved in the unit being sold (whilst keeping the gross price the same) - or a mixture of both.

If a company is making 11% more profit it is either increasing the cost of the unit or reducing the costs associated with the unit.

The margin between how much the units cost and how much people paid for those units increased by 11%.

Now, if I'm wrong then show me how: allow me to learn and understand something that I don't 'get'. Provide me with some proper calculations that demonstrate your point and we'll take it from there.

But don't be here on an anonymous forum thinking you are 'it' - because I promise you: no one cares.

MillicentBystander

It really is about time we had a regulator who is interested in protecting the interests of the consumer and not the industry. Is OFGEM fit for purpose? Search for the npower gas sculpting thread on here, witness the 'result' OFGEM got then witness what a few determined individuals backed by Consumer Focus managed to get and try and convince me/any sane individual on here NOT deriving their income from this discredited industry that they are.