2017 Preliminary Results announcement
IAIN CONN, Group CHIEF EXECUTIVE
“Our financial result in the second half of 2017 was weak, primarily reflecting poor performance in Business energy supply and particularly in our North America Business unit. The combination of political and regulatory intervention in the UK energy market, concerns over the loss of energy customers in the UK, and the performance issue in North America have created material uncertainty around Centrica and, although we delivered on our financial targets for the year, this resulted in a very poor shareholder experience. We regret this deeply, and I am determined to restore shareholder value and confidence. The underlying trends driving our strategy are clear, as are the distinctive capabilities we have to benefit from them. We are committed to delivering attractive returns and growth over the medium term. Our focus today is on performance delivery and financial discipline - on demonstrating top line growth as we deliver improved service and new propositions for our customers, and driving efficiency as hard as possible to underpin our competitiveness”.
Headlines
2017 financial performance
Adjusted operating profit down 17% to £1,252m, reflecting significantly reduced profit in Centrica Business.
Adjusted earnings down 22% to £698m. Higher net finance cost and lower Group adjusted tax rate of 22%.
Adjusted EPS down 25% to 12.6p.
£476m post-tax net exceptional charge, predominantly relating to impairments of E&P assets and Rough; shareholder statutory profit of £333m after accounting for re-measurements of open commodity positions.
EBITDA down 9%. Adjusted operating cash flow (AOCF) down 23% reflecting lower EBITDA and one-off UK Business working capital inflow in 2016. Underlying AOCF down 13.0% vs 2016 and CAGR of (0.7%) since 2015.
Group net debt down £877m to £2.6bn, at lower end of £2.5bn-£3bn end 2017 targeted range.
Proposed full year dividend of 12.0p.
First phase of strategic repositioning of Centrica complete
Shift of resources to customer-facing businesses in line with strategy. Encouraging progress as we focus on the customer and reinforce the core of energy supply and services, with significant growth rates in new areas.
Asset portfolio materially repositioned with over £900m of E&P and Central Power Generation disposals since 2016 and establishment of stronger and more sustainable Spirit Energy E&P business.
£750m cost efficiency programme delivered three years early; total like-for-like controllable costs down 10% from £5.0bn to £4.5bn over the 2015-2017 period.
2018-2020 focus on performance delivery and financial discipline
Group cost efficiency programme target increased by £500m to £1.25bn per annum by 2020.
Aiming to demonstrate customer-led gross margin growth through new propositions which reinforce and strengthen the core of traditional energy supply and in-home servicing relationships.
Targeting AOCF of £2.1bn-£2.3bn p.a. on average and capital reinvestment of no more than £1.2bn p.a.
Expect to maintain current level of dividend per share subject to generating AOCF within target range and net debt remaining within a £2.25bn-£3.25bn range.
Intend to pursue sale of UK nuclear investment. No plans for any major growth M&A.
Group financial summary
Year ended 31 December | 2017 | 2016 | Change |
Revenue | £28.0bn | £27.1bn | 3% |
EBITDA | £2,142m | £2,365m | (9%) |
Adjusted operating profit | £1,252m | £1,515m | (17%) |
Adjusted earnings | £698m | £895m | (22%) |
Adjusted basic earnings per share (EPS) | 12.6p | 16.8p | (25%) |
Full year dividend per share | 12.0p | 12.0p | 0% |
Adjusted operating cash flow | £2,069m | £2,686m | (23%) |
Underlying adjusted operating cash flow growth | (13.0%) | 13.3% | nm |
Group net debt | £2,596m | £3,473m | (25%) |
Statutory operating profit | £486m | £2,486m | (80%) |
Statutory profit for the period attributable to shareholders | £333m | £1,672m | (80%) |
Statutory net cash flow from operating activities | £1,840m | £2,396m | (23%) |
Net exceptional items after taxation included in statutory profit | (£476m) | £27m | nm |
Basic earnings per share | 6.0p | 31.4p | (81%) |
Unless otherwise stated, all references to operating profit or loss, taxation, cash flow, earnings and earnings per share throughout the announcement are adjusted figures, reconciled to their statutory equivalents in the Group Financial Review on pages 25 to 28. See also notes 2, 5 and 10 to the Financial Statements and pages 76 to 78 for an explanation of the use of adjusted performance measures.
2017 Preliminary Results Find out more
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For further information
Centrica will hold its 2017 Preliminary Results presentation for analysts and institutional investors at 9.30am (UK) on Thursday 22 February 2018. There will be a live audio webcast of the presentation and slides. Please register for the webcast at http://webcasts.centrica.com/centrica082.
A live audio broadcast of the presentation will be available by dialling in using the following numbers. Please use the number for your dialling location:
United Kingdom: 0800 640 6441
United Kingdom (Local): 0203 936 2999
All other locations: +44 20 3936 2999
Please use participant access code: 77 54 27
An archived webcast and full transcript of the presentation and the question and answer session will be available on the Centrica website at https://www.centrica.com/2017-prelims on Monday 26 February 2018.