Centrica Stock News

JP Morgan has added Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA), the owner of British Gas, to its Analyst Focus List, arguing the market has overreacted to this year's earnings downgrades. Analyst Pavan Mahbubani kept his 'overweight' rating on the FTSE 100 energy group and sees 53% upside in the shares.

British Gas owner Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) still offers material upside, according to analysts at UBS, despite the Swiss bank's downgraded price target and earnings forecasts as weakness in energy trading nears a potential trough. With a 'Buy' rating and a new 12-month target of 205p, from 220p, the bank's pitch still sees just over 30% upside to the current market price of around 155p.

British Gas ​owner Centrica said on Thursday that it ‌is cutting about 1,300 jobs as part of ​an ongoing transformation programme.

Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) hiked its interim dividend 9% despite lower first-half profits, where energy-market volatility meant progress in parts of the British Gas owner's business was “slower than we would like”. Underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £737 million were reported in the six months to June, down 18% compared to a year earlier.

France's EDF Energy and Britain's ​Centrica will extend the lives of the ‌Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear power plants in Britain for a further two years to March ​2030, they said on Wednesday.

Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) said Sizewell B is set to operate for another 20 years after the UK Government signed Heads of Terms for a regulated Contract for Difference that runs from 2035 to 2055. The agreement gives the Suffolk nuclear power station, in which Centrica owns 20%, a guaranteed strike price of £70.50/MWh from April 2035 to March 2055, based on 2025 prices and indexed to CPI inflation.

French power company EDF and the British government have signed an agreement to extend the life of the ​Sizewell B nuclear power plant in Suffolk, England, by 20 ‌years to 2055, they said on Wednesday.