Centrica to Cut 4,000 Jobs; Sell Stake in UK Nuclear Business -- Update
22 Febbraio 2018 - 11:25AM
Dow Jones News
(Updates with job cuts, potential disposal and share price.)
By Maryam Cockar
British Gas-owner Centrica PLC (CNA.LN) said Thursday that it
will cut 4,000 jobs and that it intends to sell its U.K. nuclear
assets after reporting that its 2017 pretax profit fell
sharply.
The utility company has increased its new cost-efficiency
program by 500 million pounds ($694.9 million) to GBP1.25 billion a
year by 2020 after the initial GBP750 million program was delivered
three years early.
The new program will involve reducing headcount by 4,000 by
2020, with around 1,000 additional jobs expected to be created in
the following divisions: connected home, distributed energy and
power, and energy marketing and trading.
Centrica plans to sell its 20% holding in Electricite de France
SA's (EDF.FR) U.K. nuclear business by 2020, subject to "ensuring
alignment with our partner and being sensitive to government
interests," it said.
Centrica's pretax profit fell sharply in 2017, a year in which
the utility said it incurred several charges, lost some customers,
and had a poor performance at its North America unit. The company
also had a tough comparable as its 2016 profit figure was boosted
by a tax credit.
Centrica said that pretax profit in 2017 was GBP142 million
compared with GBP2.19 billion a year earlier. Stripping out
exceptional items, adjusted pretax profit declined to GBP901
million from GBP1.17 billion, it said.
Centrica said that revenue rose to GBP28.02 billion from GBP27.1
billion a year earlier.
The FTSE 100-listed company maintained its final dividend at
8.40 pence a share, bringing the full-year dividend to 12
pence.
"The combination of political and regulatory intervention in the
U.K. energy market, concerns over the loss of energy customers in
the U.K., and the performance issue in North America have created
material uncertainty around Centrica and, although we delivered on
our financial targets for the year, this resulted in a very poor
shareholder experience. We regret this deeply, and I am determined
to restore shareholder value and confidence," Chief Executive Iain
Conn said.
Mr. Conn said Centrica is committed to delivering attractive
returns and growth over the medium term.
Centrica will buy its 4% senior notes due in 2023 and up to $250
million of its 5.375% senior notes due in 2043 to improve the
efficiency of its balance sheet, it said.
At 0949 GMT, shares in Centrica were up 4.1% at 137.55
pence.
Write to Maryam Cockar at maryam.cockar@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 22, 2018 05:10 ET (10:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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