Centrica retail EBITDA seen at 'lower end' of guidance range

(Sharecast News) - Energy company Centrica said on Thursday that it had continued to make "good progress" on the execution of its strategy, but warned that retail EBITDA was expected to be "towards the lower end" of its guidance range of £500m to £800m, reflecting the impact of warmer weather year-to-date, the shape of the commodity price curve and "continued challenges" in residential energy bad debt collection.

Centrica said there was no change to its optimisation EBITDA guidance of roughly £250m, while infrastructure EBITDA was now expected to come in above the top end of its guidance range of £500m to £650m, supported largely by higher realised prices.

Within infrastructure, Centrica reported a continued strong performance from its Meter Asset Provider business, which remains on track to install more than one million meters in 2026. The expected combined EBITDA contribution from MAP, Sizewell C and Grain LNG was unchanged at around £175m for the year.

The FTSE 100-listed firm stated capital investment for FY26 was still seen at roughly £1.1bn.

Centrica added that its outlook remained subject to the "usual uncertainties" over the remainder of the year, including weather patterns, commodity prices, regulatory developments and government policy, and said it was continuing to monitor any potential impact from the conflict in the Middle East.

Separately, Centrica announced it had acquired the Severn Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine power station from the Calon Energy Group for approximately £370m, increasing the its power portfolio to 4GW, including 1GW of assets currently in planning and construction.

Commissioned in 2010 with an operating capacity of 850MW, Centrica said Severn was "one of the most efficient CCGTs in the UK", located in South Wales. Centrica noted that it was "one of a small number of strategic UK CCGTs" capable of delivering flexible power generation at scale.

As of 0815 BST, Centrica shares were down 4.20% at 200.70p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

See latest RNS at Investegate

Centrica