Centrica (CNA)

Sector:

Utilities

Index:

FTSE 100

132.00p
   
  • Change Today:
      1.85p
  • 52 Week High: 172.50p
  • 52 Week Low: 115.60p
  • Currency: UK Pounds
  • Shares Issued: 5,283m
  • Volume: 30,138,356
  • Market Cap: £6,974m
  • RiskGrade: 165

Centrica to cut 5,000 jobs and slash management

By Sean Farrell

Date: Thursday 11 Jun 2020

LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Centrica plans to cut about 5,000 jobs with more than half the cuts affecting management as the energy supplier's new boss seeks to reduce costs and revive earnings.
The owner of British Gas said most of the job cuts would be made in the second half of 2020 and that about half its 40-strong leadership team would leave by the end of August. The cuts will affect about a fifth of Centrica's workforce of about 26,000 people and take the number of job losses since 2015 to more than 17,000.

Chief Executive Chris O'Shea is removing three layers of management and will have fewer customer facing business units that all report directly to him. He stepped up from chief financial officer in April, replacing Iain Conn who presided over a falling share price and declining earnings.

As part of the overhaul Sarwjit Sambhi, CEO of Centrica's consumer business, and Richard Hookway, who runs the business division, will leave the board on Thursday and quit the company by the end of July. Johnathan Ford, the finance chief of Homeserve, will replace O'Shea as Centrica's CFO.

Centrica said it would also consult with workers about new terms and conditions to consolidate more than 80 different employee contracts with many dating back over 35 years.

O'Shea said: "I truly regret that these difficult decisions will have to be made and understand the impact on the colleagues who will leave us. However, the changes we are proposing to make are designed to arrest our decline, allow us to focus on our customers and create a sustainable company.

"The harsh reality is that we have lost over half of our earnings in recent years. Now we must bring focus by modernising and simplifying the way we do business."

The company's shares fell 3.4% to 40.41p at 13:45 BST. The shares are worth a fifth of their value three years ago.

Centrica has suffering increased competition for UK energy customers and tougher regulation even before the Covid-19 crisis put extra pressure on its business. Bad debts are rising and demand has dropped sharply from business customers forced to stop trading.

In April Centrica blamed an energy price cap and lower gas market prices for a loss of more than £1bn. The company scrapped its dividend and shelved the sale of its Spirit Energy business in April as problems mounted.

Unions criticised the company for long-term poor management and lack of clarity on its plans. The GMB union said: "Slashing thousands more jobs is not the answer. You cannot just cut your way out of a crisis. GMB will fight for every single job."

The Unite union said a call with Centrica's management left its officials in the dark about the effect of the cuts on frontline engineers.

The union's regional officer Mark Pettifer said: "It was all a bit vague and unsatisfactory. We are demanding much greater clarity and reassurance for our members who are providing much needed services to the nation's households."

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Note 1: Prices and trades are provided by Digital Look Corporate Solutions and are delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Note 2: RiskGrade figures are provided by RiskMetrics.

 

Centrica Market Data

Currency UK Pounds
Share Price 132.00p
Change Today 1.85p
% Change 1.42 %
52 Week High 172.50p
52 Week Low 115.60p
Volume 30,138,356
Shares Issued 5,283m
Market Cap £6,974m
RiskGrade 165

Centrica Star Ratings

Compare performance with the sector and the market.
more star ratings
Key: vs Market vs Sector
Value
91.71% above the market average91.71% above the market average91.71% above the market average91.71% above the market average91.71% above the market average
60.00% above the sector average60.00% above the sector average60.00% above the sector average60.00% above the sector average60.00% above the sector average
Price Trend
40.65% above the market average40.65% above the market average40.65% above the market average40.65% above the market average40.65% above the market average
100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average
Income
65.70% above the market average65.70% above the market average65.70% above the market average65.70% above the market average65.70% above the market average
100% below the sector average100% below the sector average100% below the sector average100% below the sector average100% below the sector average
Growth
63.29% above the market average63.29% above the market average63.29% above the market average63.29% above the market average63.29% above the market average
100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average100.00% above the sector average

What The Brokers Say

Strong Buy 3
Buy 6
Neutral 6
Sell 0
Strong Sell 0
Total 15
buy
Broker recommendations should not be taken as investment advice, and are provided by the authorised brokers listed on this page.

Centrica Dividends

  Latest Previous
  Final Interim
Ex-Div 30-May-24 05-Oct-23
Paid 11-Jul-24 16-Nov-23
Amount 2.67p 1.33p

Trades for 14-Jun-2024

Time Volume / Share Price
16:35 2,003,401 @ 132.00p
16:35 33,625 @ 132.00p
16:35 12,609,029 @ 132.00p
16:35 2 @ 132.00p
16:35 5,200 @ 132.00p

Centrica Key Personnel

Chair Scott Wheway
CEO Chris O’Shea

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