Stronger profits at British Gas owner fuels new move to hand cash to shareholders

Higher electricity and gas prices offset weaker performance in Centrica's household services

British Gas owner Centrica has revealed plans to hand more money back to shareholders, as stronger profits from high electricity and gas prices help offset poor performance of its retail arm.

In an unscheduled trading update on Thursday, the company said it expected profits to be at the top end of analyst forecasts, which are predicting earnings of about 15.1p to 26p a share for 2022.