British Gas profits - good news for consumers?

Energy customers could see their bills fall in light of recent financial results from British Gas, one website has claimed.

The energy supplier revealed it experienced a 58% rise in year-on-year profits, despite cutting prices for consumers over the past 12 months.

According to uSwitch.com, this could spur other suppliers on to do the same, especially as the wholesale cost of gas is falling.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, pointed out that there are no guarantees of price falls, so people should take their own action.

She continued: "Consumers could cut their bills by around £300 today just by moving to an online energy plan - these are consistently cheaper than suppliers' standard plans but only 5% or 1.3 million households are on one."

Ofgem figures showed in recent days that energy suppliers' net margins increased by £30 per customer between November 2009 and this month.

Posted by Martin Ellis