Investors in the owner of British Gas have been left feeling cold after Centrica warned its earnings would take a hit from a domestic energy customer exodus.
Shares in the FTSE 100 company fell 15% when trading began on Thursday.
Centrica said it expected earnings per share in its current financial year to miss market expectations after a £46m writedown in its North America business.
It also cited troubles in its British Gas division, saying it had lost 823,000 domestic customers since 30 June – 150,000 of them going since it announced a hike to its standard variable rate (SVT) tariff.
British Gas announced this week it was to end the controversial default billing for new customers by April amid Government efforts to cap the charges.
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Source: Sky