Centrica's profits set to soar by 43 per cent.

Byline: Jon Griffin

BRITISH Gas parent Centrica today said its residential utility arm was on track to see profits soar by an expected 43 per cent this year, despite a seven per cent fall in energy consumption.

The group confirmed it was performing in line with market forecasts, which include operating profits of pounds 1.86 billion for Centrica and pounds 541 million for British Gas, up from pounds 379 million the previous year.

British Gas has cut customer bills by ten per cent this year as wholesale energy costs have plunged.

But there have been concerns that suppliers have not been passing on all the falls in wholesale costs to consumers in the UK.

Energy watchdog Ofgem revealed in September that supplier margins between wholesale and retail prices had increased for both gas and electricity to pounds 110 and pounds 80 per customer respectively despite falls in their wholesale prices.