British Gas has announced an increase in profits for 2023, reaching £750 million, a tenfold rise from the previous year’s earnings of £72 million.
This surge is attributed to regulatory permission from Ofgem, allowing the recovery of £500 million in losses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, Centrica, British Gas’s parent company, experienced a 17% decline in profits, totalling £2.8 billion.
Chris O’Shea, Group Chief Executive, highlighted the company’s commitment to supporting customers during the energy crisis, pledging £140 million in voluntary customer support from British Gas Energy and Bord Gáis Energy profits.
Mr O’Shea said: “We’ve done a lot we can be proud of in 2023: we’ve paid over £1 billion in tax; we’ve created over 1,000 new UK-based jobs as we continue to invest in customer service; and we’ve improved security of supply through doubling the capacity of the Rough gas storage facility, through extending the life of the Morecambe Bay gas field into the 2030s, and through investing to extend the life of our nuclear power stations.
“All of this has been made possible by the strong financial and operational performance across our balanced portfolio of businesses in 2023 as we deliver the strategy we set out in July.
“We are pleased to report that this strong underlying operational performance has continued into early 2024.”
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