Chris O'Shea, Group Chief Executive
"Our performance in 2022 demonstrates the benefits of our balanced portfolio and our strong balance sheet. The energy crisis and cost of living pressures have created a challenging environment for customers and communities, but we have been able to provide much needed stability and support. We invested £75m in supporting our energy customers in 2022, which was greater than the £8 post-tax profit per customer earned by British Gas Energy. Whilst customers may see some relief given recent easing of prices, it remains clear that some will continue to need help and we will do what we can to support them in the year ahead."
Helping customers and communities through the energy crisis
• Invested over £200m in customer service, support and pricing across the Company.
• Supported and helped 650,000 customers manage their energy bills since the start of the energy crisis.
• Paid ~£1bn in tax relating to 2022 profits.
• Materially helped UK energy security of supply with the reopening of Rough, and a new gas supply agreement with Equinor sufficient to heat 4.5m homes.
Strong operational and financial performance from a balanced portfolio
• Adjusted basic EPS of 34.9p (2021: 4.1p); 34.2p excluding Spirit Energy disposed assets.
- Strong gas production and electricity generation against a backdrop of higher commodity prices.
- Strong management of increased commodity volatility in Energy Marketing & Trading (EM&T).
- Lower retail adjusted operating profit including a small loss in British Gas Services & Solutions, reflecting weak commercial performance and investment in customer service, support and pricing.
• Statutory basic EPS loss of 13.3p (2021: profit of 20.7p) including a £2.4bn loss on certain
re-measurements after taxation, largely reflecting the revaluation of UK energy supply hedging positions due to wholesale gas and power price falls towards the end of 2022.
• Group free cash flow from continuing operations of £2.5bn (2021: £1.2bn), including some big swings in working capital with £1.1bn inflow in British Gas Energy reflecting the short-term acceleration of cash flows from government support schemes and a £1.6bn build in EM&T and Centrica Storage.
• Statutory net cash flow from operating activities of £1.3bn (2021: £1.6bn) includes £1.2bn of margin cash and collateral outflow to support hedging and trading activity.
• Closing adjusted net cash of £1.2bn at the end of 2022 compared to £0.7bn at the end of 2021.
And later;
The Directors propose a final dividend of 2.00 pence per share (totalling £118 million) for the year ended 31 December 2022.
The Company has sufficient distributable reserves to pay dividends to its ultimate shareholders. Distributable reserves are calculated on an individual legal entity basis and the ultimate parent company, Centrica plc, currently has adequate levels of realised profits within its retained earnings to support dividend payments. At 31 December 2022, Centrica plc's company-only distributable reserves were c.£2.9 billion (2021: c.£2.5 billion). On an annual basis, the distributable reserve levels of the Group's subsidiary undertakings are reviewed and dividends paid up to Centrica plc as appropriate to replenish its reserves.
https://www.investegate.co.uk/centrica- ... 00050928Q/
PS, I tried unsuccessfully to find the ex dividend/payment dates for this dividend in the item. Maybe I missed it?
Ian (No holding).