18th Apr 2016 06:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK power company Centrica PLC on Monday said it is on track to meet its targets for 2016 following a solid performance in the first quarter.
The FTSE 100-listed group, which has both upstream and downstream oil and gas operations and which runs the British Gas consumer energy business, said it expects to deliver GBP200.0 million in efficiency savings in 2016 as part of its plan to cut GBP750.0 million in costs out of the business.
Like-for-like operating costs are set to be lower in 2016 year-on-year, Centrica said, and it said around 3,000 jobs will be cut across the business over the course of 2016, 800 of which were cut in the first quarter to the end of March.
Centrica added that its number of UK home energy supply accounts shrank by 1.5% in the first quarter, primarily due to long-term contract churn. It expects to launch new customer propositions in the second quarter and said its third gas price reduction since the start of 2015 came into force in March.
Centrica said its UK business returned to profit in the first quarter, while its North American energy supply business performed well against unseasonably warm winter weather.
The group added its exploration and production arm performed well in the quarter and is operating efficiency within the low oil price environment.
"We continue to make good progress in implementing our strategy, and with improving levels of customer service, good operational performance, lower costs, and the launch of new products to help customers manage their energy usage, we remain on track to deliver against our 2016 targets," said Iain Conn, Centrica's chief executive.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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