MSE News: British Gas to increase gas and electricity prices by 5.5%

Former_MSE_Callum
Former_MSE_Callum Posts: 696 Forumite
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British Gas has announced that the price of its standard variable tariff will be increasing by an average of 5.5% from 29 May 2018...
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'British Gas to increase gas and electricity prices by 5.5%'
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  • minislim
    minislim Posts: 357 Forumite
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    why? wholesale fuel prices went down last year? and we didn't see a reduction?
    as usual BG customers get fleeced to give hefty profits back to the shareholders.
    how anyone is still with BG i dont know!
  • Katapolt
    Katapolt Posts: 291 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    christ. i just got a £700 bill from them (issue causing this now rectified) but bloody hell am i staying with them now this is happening!
  • miller
    miller Posts: 1,627 Forumite
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    minislim wrote: »
    as usual BG customers get fleeced to give hefty profits back to the shareholders.

    I've had a very small shareholding in Centrica since 2010, it has been an atrocious stock pick.

    Iain Conn (what an unfortunate surname) the CEO seems to have done alright though.
  • minislim
    minislim Posts: 357 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    miller wrote: »
    I've had a very small shareholding in Centrica since 2010, it has been an atrocious stock pick.

    Iain Conn (what an unfortunate surname) the CEO seems to have done alright though.

    really? as i recall for the last ten years they've reported bumper profits year on year?

    if that's the case and you don't seem to be seeing a decent return i'd be suspicious of who's reaping the rewards? like you say. CEO etc.
  • miller
    miller Posts: 1,627 Forumite
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    From their website, the opening price on 31/12/2010 was £3.34, the share price just now is £1.43.

    I make the dividends going back in time since then roughly something about 98p
    (4p 8p 3p 8p 3p 8p 5p 12p 5p 12p 5p 11p 4p 10p)

    I work that out as a loss of about 28%.
  • PaschalFun
    PaschalFun Posts: 241 Forumite
    minislim wrote: »
    really? as i recall for the last ten years they've reported bumper profits year on year?

    if that's the case and you don't seem to be seeing a decent return i'd be suspicious of who's reaping the rewards? like you say. CEO etc.

    I fear you memory is failing badly; it happens to us all eventually :(

    Here are the results from the Centrica jury...

    2013 £950m profit (based on £26.57bn t/o)
    2014 £1bn loss (based on £29.41bn t/o)
    2015 £884m loss (based on £27.97bn t/o)
    2016 £1.66bn profit (based on £27.10bn t/o)
    2017 £303m profit (based on £28.02bn t/o)
  • Lagamorph
    Lagamorph Posts: 44 Forumite
    So the rest of the big suppliers will follow suit soon enough.
    As soon as one of them takes the plunge the rest all stop holding back.
  • Xbigman
    Xbigman Posts: 3,884 Forumite
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    Centrica's business is primarily in gas and oil production which was hit badly by the oil price collapse. You are confusing Centrica with their retail energy subsidiary British Gas which is profitable but not massively so.
    Its just the first of the big energy providers to raise prices this year, there will be more to follow.



    Darren
    Xbigman's guide to a happy life.

    Eat properly
    Sleep properly
    Save some money
  • miller
    miller Posts: 1,627 Forumite
    Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post Photogenic
    So the consumers lose out through large energy bills and the shareholders lose out because the relatively small BG profits got swallowed by historical issues (i.e. the oil price) in the parent company.

    The winners are solely the CEO/Executive team then!
  • System
    System Posts: 178,090 Community Admin
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Quite a telling comment from the Telegraph:

    Quote: Centrica, the supplier's FTSE 100 parent company, said its decision was driven by the same "rising wholesale and policy costs" that prompted a similar rise earlier this year for the "safeguard tariff" that covers four million of Britain's most vulnerable energy consumers, which is set by the regulator Ofgem. Unquote

    If Ofgem can raise Safeguard Tariffs by x%, then why should people be surprised when other tariffs increase by the same %.
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