Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Big Six energy firms see profits soar

Energy regulator Ofgem said the profits made by the Big Six energy firms have soared since 2009.
Energy regulator Ofgem said the profits made by the Big Six energy firms have soared since 2009.

The profits made by the Big Six energy firms in supplying British households have multiplied five-fold to more than £1 billion since 2009, according to figures from regulator Ofgem.

It meant they pocketed an average of £53 profit per home last year, representing a profit margin of 4.3% – up from £30, or 2.8%, in 2011.

The figures show that together British Gas, E.ON, EDF, npower, ScottishPower and SSE recorded underlying earnings – before interest payments and tax – of £1.19 billion in 2012, up from £221 million in 2009.

They are likely to fuel further anger over rising gas and electricity bills.

The rise in profits in 2012 from the year before was partly explained by higher gas consumption during a period which was colder than average, compared to 2011, which was warmer than average.

Ofgem said bill increases in 2012 were caused by higher prices for gas and electricity on the wholesale market, up 14%, plus rising costs of transmission and distribution, and Government levies, up a combined 20%.

It echoed the reasons for recently-announced tariff rises cited by a number of suppliers.

The report showed that from 2009, a number of loss-making domestic suppliers had moved from loss to profitability, as prices had “increased significantly”.

It said there was “some evidence of rising profit margins” – attributed to higher prices and volumes rather than lower costs.

The report added: “It is not yet possible to assess whether this is a sustained trend or the result of unusual weather over the past three years.”

Ofgem noted that all of the Big Six supply firms also generated power, where their businesses showed a profit margin of 19.9% in 2012.

However, the regulator said that this figure – which has been falling since 2009 – was “not too meaningful” since it did not take into account large sums required to invest in power stations.

Total profits across supply and generation fell by £133 million, or 3.4%, in 2012 compared to the previous year.

Ofgem has already introduced measures to try to introduce competition in the energy supply market, including the opening up of wholesale electricity for independent suppliers to be able to compete with the Big Six.

The regulator is currently carrying out an assessment and is due to publish its findings next March.

A raft of large tariff increases by major suppliers has recently sparked a political storm, with Labour pledging that it will freeze energy bills if elected.

The coalition government is widely expected to announce changes next month to the way it levies charges on bills to pay for energy efficiency measures.