Any thoughts on the company?


Red line 200 MA

24 Mar 2015 "Deutsche Bank cuts Centrica to 'sell' from 'hold', target cut from 280p to 225p"

Indeed.

I got the timing wrong today, nvm.

You certainly have patience! Not sure when we will see the 300's again but I can say they are doing all the right things as a company. People have faith in the new leadership and the internal programes have serious traction and decent results. I heard one small event last week saved close to £1m (£60%), they are getting to grips with running the business and morale has vastly improved (employees are rewarded with shares). May take a while but these efforts will come through in the results this year.

Best of luck.

MR Euro, how are the employees taking the upcoming 4000 job losses? It seems a bit extreme to me but if they can manage without them now what have they been doing in the past to justify their emploment?

CEO picked up 100K following the CFO who bought 40K

Credit Suisse today reaffirms its outperform investment rating on Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) and raised its price target to 175p (from 170p)

After such a L O N G time, back above the 200 ma.

Of all the Utilities on my list CNA is the best performing.

Death of the power dinosaurs

An interesting article and well worth a read.

A golden cross beckons - real World apart!

Half-year Report

IAIN CONN, GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE

“In a first half in which we experienced rapidly rising commodity prices, extreme weather patterns, continued competitive pressures and ongoing political and regulatory uncertainty, Centrica demonstrated resilience from its portfolio of businesses. We delivered stable gross margin and EBITDA relative to 2017, and adjusted operating cash flow of £1.1bn. We are on track to achieve our full year Group financial targets and expect to maintain the full year dividend per share at its current level, subject to delivering adjusted operating cash flow and net debt in line with our target ranges.

We continue to make progress on implementing our strategy. We have developed new propositions and delivery capabilities in both customer divisions and our cost efficiency programme is on track. Although we are awaiting the final outcome of regulation to impose a temporary cap on all default tariffs for residential customers in the UK, we have plans in place to manage this. Our focus remains on performance delivery and financial discipline.”

H1 PERFORMANCE AND FULL YEAR OUTLOOK

Stable adjusted gross margin and EBITDA relative to H1 2017. Adjusted operating cash flow of £1.1bn, down 11%, including impact of working capital outflows due to cold weather and wholesale commodity price increases.
Full year adjusted operating cash flow currently expected to be higher than 2017, within the targeted £2.1-£2.3bn range, and net debt expected to be within the targeted £2.5-£3bn range for 2018.
Full year dividend per share expected to be maintained at 12.0p, subject to delivering adjusted operating cash flow and net debt in line with our target ranges.
H1 2018 adjusted operating profit down 4%. Profit recovery in E&P from higher commodity prices and Rough field production, largely offsetting lower profit in the customer-facing divisions.
H1 2018 adjusted EPS down 22% to 6.4p, impacted by a higher adjusted effective tax rate of 39%.
Centrica Consumer adjusted operating profit down 20%. Rising wholesale energy costs have put pressure on UK energy supply margins, and extreme cold weather resulted in additional costs in UK services. Consumer account holdings down 1% in H1 2018, but rate of losses slowed compared to 2017. UK services accounts stable.
Centrica Business adjusted operating profit down 57%. Strong underlying performance in EM&T but losses as expected from legacy gas contracts reduced overall EM&T profit. Good recovery in UK Business vs H2 2017 and strong order-book growth in DE&P. Continued weakness in North America Business power retail book as previously signalled. North America Business forward book higher for 2019.
Awaiting final regulations imposing a temporary default tariff cap in the UK. Continue to engage constructively while implementing mitigating actions.
PROGRESS ON IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGY

Resilience from Centrica’s diverse portfolio of businesses. Focus on performance delivery and financial discipline.
Demonstrating new sources of gross margin growth. Improved customer segmentation, enhanced propositions, focus on customer lifetime value. Connected Home gross revenue up 31% and DE&P order book up 47% compared to H1 2017.
Continued strong cost efficiency delivery with £92m of efficiencies delivered in H1 2018. On track to deliver £200m of savings for the full year, taking cumulative annual savings relative to 2015 to around £900m.
Spirit Energy successfully established, providing cash flow diversity and balance sheet strength for the Group.

more.....

Credit Suisse Outperform 143.00 185.00 - Reiterates

Poor results from SSE today have a possible read across to CNA's imminent results.
Hot summer, little wind and high bulk gas prices etc..........

Next scheduled news...trading update the same day as the interim divi is paid...22 Nov

Goldman Sachs Buy 149.03 174.00 176.00 Upgrades

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 148.80 180.00 200.00 Reiterates

Cyclicals becoming unfashionable, defensives becoming attractive.
CNE might be a good investment if the market is starting a prolonged downturn.

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 147.70 180.00 200.00 Reiterates

Energy deals rise 21% in just five months

"The average price for the best energy deal has risen by 21% in only the last five months. British Gas could now be the second cheapest fixed rate tariff for you."