Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, has announced fresh plans to return £300m to shareholders under a new buyback scheme, despite the energy giant raising bills for millions of its customers.

The extension, once completed, will mean the group has repurchased £1.5bn of its ordinary shares since November 2022, representing approximately 20% of Centrica’s issued share capital.

A short trading update revealed that Centrica expects its full-year earnings per share to be in line with a current market forecast of 18.5p.

This would be down 44% on last year, and mirrors the first half decline in profitability that was driven by lower energy price volatility and lower commodity prices.

Centrica expects the newly announced share buyback scheme to complete no later than the end of September 2025.

The move to return capital to shareholders comes amid another announcement by British Gas that householder energy bills will increase again next year, as a result of turbulence in the global energy markets.

Equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Aarin Chiekrie, commented: “Centrica’s aiming to become a renewable energy powerhouse, but that’s not going to come cheap or quickly, which could put a strain on cash flows if returns aren’t as high or come as quickly as planned.

“But for now, there’s still plenty of cash on hand and that’s inspired another £300m of share buybacks to be completed by September 2025. Once completed, this means the group will have repurchased £1.5bn worth of its shares since November 2022, representing around 20% of Centrica’s market value.

“In the new year, retail operations look set to make good progress towards medium-term profit targets, with British Gas services and solutions set to hit this landmark by 2026.”

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