Centrica earnings up 15% in 2018

Despite this, the energy giant said results in Spirit Energy and its nuclear business were “disappointing”

Energy infrastructure

Centrica reported a 15% rise in adjusted earnings for 2018.

The energy giant has published its results for the last financial year, which show the firm’s adjusted gross margin grew by 5% relative to 2017.

Its operating cash flow also swelled by 9% to £2,245 million, within its targeted range of between £2.1 billion and £2.3 billion.

Adjusted operating profit rose 12% to £1,392 million, with higher commodity prices and strong Rough gas production benefiting exploration and production despite “disappointing volumes” in Spirit Energy, its business in the sub-sector.

It also made £248 million of efficiency savings, taking cumulative savings since 2015 to a total of £940 million.

The full year dividend paid out at a rate of 12p per share.

It plans to make £500 million of non-core divestments in 2019, as well as planning capital reinvestment of around £1 billion.

It says its Spirit Energy venture will focus on performance and strengthening its portfolio to create more options for future business.

Centrica CEO Iain Conn said: “Centrica’s financial performance in 2018 was mixed against a challenging external backdrop. At the headline level, adjusted operating profit was up 12% and adjusted operating cash flow and net debt were within our target ranges.

“However, volumes in Spirit Energy and Nuclear were disappointing and recovery in North America Business was slower than expected.”

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