CENTRICA PLC
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2012
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
STRONG PERFORMANCE ALLOWS US TO CONTRIBUTE OUR FAIR SHARE
- Adjusted earnings up 5% to £1,406 million; 27.1 pence adjusted basic earnings per share
- After a warm 2011, cooler weather saw average domestic gas consumption increase by 12%
- Centrica Energy and Direct Energy benefiting from enhanced scale; adjusted operating profit in the UK up by 2%, adjusted operating profit from non-UK operations up by 78%
- Adjusted Group tax charge of £1.1 billion, £773 million relating to the UK; 44% Group effective tax rate
- Share repurchase of £500 million announced and full year dividend up 6% to 16.4 pence per share, benefiting over 700,000 individual shareholders and pension funds
REFRESHED STRATEGIC PRIORITIES TO REFLECT CHANGING MARKET CONDITIONS
- Vision to be the leading integrated energy company, with customers at our core
- New leadership structure, to implement our refreshed strategic priorities:
- Innovate to drive growth and service excellence
- Integrate our natural gas business, linked to our core markets
- Increase our returns through efficiency and continued capital discipline
- Build on our distinctive capabilities downstream, with North America a more material part of the Group
- Optimise and develop our upstream gas portfolio, investing where we see attractive value
HELPING OUR CUSTOMERS IN DIFFICULT TIMES
- Clear and simple bill design and tariffs; helping customers to understand why external costs are rising and how to find the best tariff for them, with our personalised tariff checker product
- 5 star customer service rating from Consumer Focus
- 400,000 customers to receive £130 Warm Home Discount
- British Gas residential energy returned to customer account growth in the early weeks of 2013, following 1% decline in 2012
- Added over 200,000 residential customer accounts in Direct Energy; innovative offerings and high levels of customer service
SECURING SUSTAINABLE AND AFFORDABLE ENERGY SUPPLIES
- £2.7 billion invested in 2012
- Construction of £1.4 billion North Sea Cygnus gas field started, creating 4,000 UK jobs and producing gas for 1.5 million UK homes
- First power from Lincs offshore wind farm, will supply electricity for 200,000 UK homes; first production from three gas fields in last 12 months; York and Rhyl first gas expected in coming weeks
- Positive results from exploration drilling at Rodriguez and Whitehaven in early 2013, following lower levels of drilling success in 2012
- Commitments to secure gas and power for the UK totalling more than £50 billion
“We have taken the lead during 2012 in helping more households save energy and supporting the people who need the most help. It is important that Centrica makes a fair and reasonable return so that we can continue to make our contribution to society and to invest. Last year we incurred a tax charge of over £1 billion and invested over £2 billion to secure new sources of energy for the UK, well in excess of our profits.
