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"

.

.

.

Copied from over the road - Big Six force climbdown in energy profits storm

British Gas to cut gas prices by 5%

Berenberg Buy 280.30 280.30 295.00 310.00 Reiterates

Goldman Sachs Buy 272.00 285.00 305.00 Reiterates

Investec Buy 272.40 250.00 300.00 Upgrades

Half Yearly Report

Performance summary

Group adjusted operating profit down 3%, with higher profit from customer-facing businesses more than offset by lower profit from upstream gas and power businesses; Group adjusted EPS up 17%, reflecting a lower tax rate due to the change in operating profit mix.
British Gas operating profit up:
Higher residential energy consumption due to colder weather compared to a warm first half of 2014, falling wholesale gas costs, net lower other costs including ECO; residential energy market share broadly stable.
Two reductions in household gas bills totalling 10% this year, saving customers £72 per year on average.
Residential services impacted by challenging sales environment; new propositions to be launched in second half of 2015.
Business energy supply impacted by issues following the implementation of a new billing and CRM system; actions in place to resolve issues by the end of 2015.
Direct Energy operating profit significantly up:
Managed extreme cold weather well in residential and business energy supply, with no repeat of additional costs incurred in 2014.
Increased bundling of offerings in residential energy supply and restoration of higher margin contracts sold in prior periods now benefitting business energy supply.
Accelerated investment for future growth in solar business, resulting in an operating loss in services.
Centrica Energy operating profit and earnings down reflecting lower wholesale gas, oil and power prices:
Flat year-on-year E&P production and good nuclear operational performance.
On track to deliver E&P capital expenditure and cash production cost reductions.
Good first contribution from Bord Gáis Energy; Centrica Storage operating profit broadly in line with 2014.
Interim dividend per share down 30%, following the decision earlier in the year to rebase the dividend.
Good progress made in strengthening the balance sheet and financial metrics; successful hybrid bond issuance and strong first-time scrip dividend take-up; Group free cash flow positive with net debt reducing by around £300 million since the start of the year.
Full year outlook broadly unchanged, but uncertainties include continued low wholesale commodity prices and a competitive environment for our customer-facing businesses, as well as the ongoing resolution of British Gas business energy supply billling issues; Group adjusted basic EPS expected to be weighted towards the first half of the year.

more....

Good morning skinny and congratulations on getting the report on here I think even before the RNS was posted.
I think it is not a bad report considering all the hassle Centrica has had over the last six months. No doubt it will be reflected in the various bonus schemes that will surface.

"We will aim to deliver long-term shareholder value through both returns and growth:"

But at the moment they are putting the shareholder value in the back cupboard in keeping the 30% divi cut!

Now will someone do a Zurich/RSA on us please!

Credit Suisse today reaffirms its outperform investment rating on Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) and set its price target at 270p.

On a multi-year low of 202p I believe CNA is looking like an opportunity on a 2-3 year view, even with the cut in the divi, a lot of bad news seems to be in the price. Trading update due on thursday.
2517

StockMarketWire.com
British Gas parent Centrica reports good operational and strategic progress since the announcement of its interim results and the outcome of the strategic review on 30 July against a challenging backdrop of continued weakness in commodity prices and power generation margins.

The group says its 2015 full year earnings outlook is in line with expectations, despite the impacts from a second gas price reduction in British Gas Residential and previously reported system implementation issues in British Gas Business. This is subject to the usual variables of weather and asset performance during the last few weeks of the year.

Following the strategic review, adjusted operating cash flow delivery is a major focus, and despite recent commodity price weakness the Group remains on track to deliver a baseline level of over £2 billion in 2015.

An update says: "In the current environment, capital and operating efficiency in Exploration and Production has been a priority and the business is on track to deliver capital expenditure below £800million in 2015 and below £600 million in 2016, when we also expect to deliver an annual reduction in E&P cash production costs of £100 million relative to 2014. For the Group as a whole, organic capital expenditure is expected to be slightly below our target of £1.05 billion in 2015.

"With a focus on delivery of our £750 million per annum efficiency programme and on cash flow growth, underlying performance momentum continues to make a material contribution in the face of commodity price falls and the roll-off of upstream hedge benefits."

Chief executive Iain Conn said: "I am pleased with our progress since we announced our strategy in July. 2015 has been a difficult year, and against challenging external factors Centrica is establishing a solid base from which to deliver for our customers and shareholders. We are seeing underlying performance improvement against a softening commodity market, and have concrete plans for executing our strategy."

Deutsche Bank today reaffirms its hold investment rating on Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) and cut its price target to 200p (from 220p).

Societe Generale today downgrades its investment rating on Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) to sell (from hold) and cut its price target to 175p (from 250p).

Centrica sells it's stake in wind farms http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5207771

StockMarketWire.com
Centrica reports a resilient financial performance for the year ended 31 December, with solid adjusted earnings despite the challenge of falling wholesale oil and gas prices.

Group revenue decreased by 5% to GBP28.0 billion (2014: £29.4 billion). British Gas gross revenue fell 4% to £12.4 billion, primarily as a result of lower average sales prices reflecting the lower price environment and a lower number of business energy supply points.

Adjusted operating profits fell by 12% to £1,459m and the full year dividend of 12,0p per share is down 11%. Looking ahead it says the lower commodity price environment will inevitably continue to have an impact on the earnings and operating cash flow from our E&P and central power generation businesses. However, with our focus on cash flow growth and delivery of our £750 million cost efficiency programme, we currently expect to deliver adjusted operating cash flow in excess of £2 billion in 2016.

Chief executive Iain Conn said: "Centrica has delivered a resilient financial performance, with solid 2015 adjusted earnings despite the challenge of falling wholesale oil and gas prices. Operating cash flow has been strong, and with capital discipline this has allowed the Group to reduce net debt. In 2016 we expect operating cash flow also to be over £2 billion.

"We have a clear strategy for delivering growth and returns built around the customer and I am encouraged by the progress we have made. We remain confident that our plans and underlying performance momentum will allow us to more than balance cash flows and deliver at least 3-5% per annum underlying operating cash flow growth to 2020, even in the current environment, so underpinning a progressive dividend policy."

StockMarketWire.com
Kepler Cheuvreux has downgraded its investment rating on energy group Centrica (LON:CNA) to reduce from hold after recalibrating its model in light of the Company's recent results and outlook statement.

Consequently, the analysts have cut their target price by 24 per cent to 190 pence a share (from 250 pence), implying around 10 per cent potential downside at current levels.

The broker commented: "The digitalisation of the utility industry will shift power from the utility to the customer, and extracting more value in the process is going to prove difficult, in our view.

"As Centrica has a big name (British Gas) and a big customer business, this is not the worst starting position, but that might only be a relative advantage."

Centrica's response is http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5230528 or in other words we are guilty as charged just like all the others -):

Centrica's British Gas to cut nearly nearly 700 jobs