British Gas owner has a 20% holding in the UK’s nuclear stations, which are as much of a cash cow as the North Sea
Back in July, Centrica, the owner of British Gas, tried to sound sheepish about reinstating its dividend at a penny a share at a moment when customers were braced for higher energy bills. The company accompanied its move with feelgood boasts about how it expected to pay £600m under Rishi Sunak’s three-year “energy profits levy” on North Sea oil and gas production.
Four months later, there is less bashfulness. Earnings will be “towards the top end of the range” of analysts’ expectations, Thursday’s trading update said, and shareholders can have a much more significant distribution – a buyback of 5% of the share capital, which will cost roughly £250m. The shares rose 6%.
