Centrica on Monday warned first-half operating profits would be “materially lower” than a year ago and cautioned that the high wholesale gas and electricity prices behind the slump in performance were set to continue into the second half.

In February the energy group said margins were under pressure and on Monday it said profit margins had been pushed below long-run targets. Full-year earnings per share are now seen at the lower end of market expectations.

Hinting that further price rises for its millions of business and residential customers were possible later this year, Centrica said in a trading update that “we will take the necessary action to deliver reasonable margins in the retail business”. ... Read full article