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Centrica PLC on Tuesday said it expects annual earnings to be at the top end of expectations, thanks to ‘significantly’ higher profit in its Retail arm. Ahead of the British Gas-owner’s annual general meeting later Tuesday, the Windsor, England-based company said its performance over the first months of 2023 has been strong overall. In Retail, Centrica said adjusted operating profit in the first half of 2023 is expected to be ‘significantly higher’ than in previous years. It explained that the ‘main driver’ of this is a material positive impact in British Gas Energy from allowances in the UK domestic default tariff cap relating to costs incurred in prior periods. Further, in Centrica’s Optimisation division, performance in Energy Marketing & Trading has remained strong to date. It added that in Infrastructure, availability and volumes from its gas production, nuclear and gas storage assets has been ‘good’, helping to offset the impact of lower wholesale commodity prices. ‘As always, uncertainties remain over the balance of the year including the impacts of weather, commodity prices, the economic environment, any changes to regulation or government policy, asset performance and the competitive backdrop for our energy supply businesses,’ Centrica cautioned. ‘This results in a range of possible outcomes for the full year.’ However, Centrica did say that, given its current outlook, it expects 2023 adjusted earnings per share to be around the top end of the range of recent sell side analyst expectations, with adjusted earnings per share heavily weighted towards the first half. As of Monday, the range for full-year adjusted earnings per share estimates was 16.5p to 24.7p. This would be down by as much as half from 34.2p in 2022. Further, based on its ‘strong’ first half earnings outlook, Centrica expects first-half net cash generation to be ‘robust’. Centrica’s interim results are scheduled for July 27. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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