Energy companies announce major profits whilst UK customers struggle to pay

Centrica and Shell have both announced eye-watering profits worth billions of pounds as the UK lives in dread of the October energy price hike.

British Gas’ parent company Centrica increased its operating profits massively from £262 million last year to £1.34billion for the first six months of this year.

British Gas reported an adjusted operating profit of £98million, and said it needed to buy more energy to cope with the demand.

Shell hit a high of £9.5 billion in the second quarter, beating its own record quarterly profit of £7.5 billion, which was racked up in January to March alone.

But all these profits come as families in the UK struggle to pay energy bills now, with another increase to the energy price cap, which could see some paying £400 a month for energy.

Energy experts have said prices could reach £3,420 in October and ramp up to £3,850 when the price cap is reviewed again in January 2023.

A year ago in July 2021 the price cap was just £1,138 a year – and most energy deals were much cheaper than that.

Meanwhile Centrica has it has resumed payouts to shareholders, paying an interim dividend of 1p per share.

Customers noticed prices creeping up with increased supply and demand following the Covid pandemic. The war in Ukraine threatened supplies from Russia, which also hiked up prices.