British Gas owner raises expectations amid rising energy prices

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11th May 2022

Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond

Good morning Lord Alan Sugar vs PwC, probably not a row anyone would have predicted but welcome to 2022. The Big4 accountancy giant has hit back at comments by the Apprentice star after he called its staff "lazy gits" for being able to take Friday afternoons off over summer. Writing on LinkedIn, a senior executive reward manager at PwC said his view was incorrect and "at best childish and misunderstood".

Today's stories

British Gas owner raises expectations amid rising energy prices
Payment firm becomes UK’s latest tech unicorn

ENERGY
British Gas owner raises expectations amid rising energy prices

What happened
Yesterday British Gas’ parent company Centrica announced that profits for this year would be at the top end of analyst estimates - which range from £739m to £1.4bn – driven by the soaring energy prices.

As a reminder
Energy prices have been surging since last September fuelled by a resurgence in global demand following the easing of Covid restrictions. In recent months prices have increased further as the war in Ukraine has led to uncertainty in oil and gas supply from Russia, one of the biggest producers.

All this meant that in the UK the energy bill price cap rose 54% last month to an average of £1,971, pushing millions of households into fuel poverty where more than 10% of income is spent on energy.

Cashing in on higher energy bills has drawn plenty of criticism
So far the government has resisted calls from the Labour party and cost of living campaigners to impose a one-off tax on energy companies to help fund more support for struggling households. The prime minister and chancellor argue that a windfall tax would deter investment in renewable energy.

In response Centrica announced that it was boosting its British Gas energy support fund, set up in December, to £6m. It provides grants of up to £750 to help vulnerable customers pay their energy bills.

Yesterday’s Queen’s speech (delivered by Prince Charles) promised cheaper energy bills
The government written speech included a plan to extend the price cap, first introduced temporarily in 2019, beyond 2023 in a bid to help households cope with soaring costs.

But critics of the cap say it merely delays the pain felt by households when energy bills are going up. Some have called on more targeted support for vulnerable households instead.

Other stories to keep you in the loop

The Queen’s speech 2022: what was in it and what it means
Boris Johnson hints at cost of living announcement
Ticket-holder scoops £184m EuroMillions jackpot to become UK’s biggest ever winner
Elon Musk would reverse Donald Trump's Twitter ban
Tinder owner sues Google for anticompetitive app store behaviour
Amazon Fresh to open first UK store outside London
Peloton shares plunge 20% as losses widen and sales guidance cut
Beauty Bay hires bankers to review options after IPO stalls
Sony's profit surges on healthy film, game and music growth
Pfizer to spend $11.6bn on migraine treatment maker Biohaven

TECH
Payment firm becomes UK’s latest tech unicorn

Yesterday British payments company Paddle announced it had raised $200m taking its valuation to $1.4bn. The latest funding round means it joins an exclusive group of European unicorns - private tech startups worth over $1bn.

Founded in 2012 by 18-year-old Christian Owen, Paddle provides integrated payments, tax and compliance services to software businesses.

Today it works with more than 3,000 customers in 200 markets and has more than doubled its revenue growth since 2020.

The digital payments sector is notoriously complicated and fragmented. Paddle says the new funding will be used to strengthen its platform as it aims to become a “complete” payment infrastructure provider for software companies around the world.

The company also recently announced plans to build a payments system to rival Apple’s following a ruling by a US judge in September that Apple must allow app developers to use external payments systems.

Stat of the day

Apple announced that it will discontinue the iPod, 21 years after it was released. The iPod was the first MP3 player that could hold 1,000 songs and had a 10-hour battery life

Interesting links from around the web

What to say instead of “oh, sorry” at work
The pros and cons of buying supermarket own-brand food
How remote work could kill the sick day

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British Gas owner raises expectations amid rising energy prices

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