Centrica’s first-half underlying revenue fell 12% to £10.5bn, reflecting declines across all business units.
Underlying cash profit (EBITDA) fell by 18% to £0.7bn (£0.8bn expected). This was driven by a sharp decline in the Infrastructure business, largely reflecting disposals in Spirit Energy and lower Nuclear power generation due to both planned and unplanned outages.
Free cash flows worsened from a £0.2bn inflow to a £0.6bn outflow, due to the lower profitability, a step-up in investment spending and the £0.4bn acquisition of the Severn power plant. The net cash position fell from £2.5bn to £0.7bn.
Retail and Optimisation full-year underlying cash profit guidance is unchanged at the lower end of £500-800mn and around £250mn, respectively. Infrastructure guidance has been raised around 30% to £650-750mn.
An interim dividend of 2.0p per share was announced, up 9%.
The shares fell 3.2% in early trading.
Our view
HL view to follow.
Centrica key facts
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This article is original Hargreaves Lansdown content, published by Hargreaves Lansdown. It was correct as at the date of publication, and our views may have changed since then. Unless otherwise stated estimates, including prospective yields, are a consensus of analyst forecasts provided by LSEG. These estimates are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Yields are variable and not guaranteed. Investments rise and fall in value so investors could make a loss.
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