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Centrica history
Centrica company history timeline
Formed during the 1997 breakup of British Gas, Centrica inherited the gas supply portion of the business and the rights to the British Gas name.
Indeed, by the end of 1997, Centrica had renegotiated all its major high-priced contracts, winning lower rates from such gas suppliers as Conoco and Elf Exploration.
Although the company still saw a loss of £791 million after one-time charges in 1997, its renegotiated contracts and new products were encouraging.
Centrica had new opportunities, however, from the partial opening of the European Union (EU) to gas competition, brought on by a 1997 directive from the EU energy ministers.
By the end of 1998 the company had 850,000 electricity customers, and a few months later that number had climbed to nearly 1.5 million.
The company expanded its gas and oil field portfolio with the purchase in 1998 of PowerGen North Sea Limited.
BG plc was renamed BG Group plc in December 1999.
Further purchases of oil and gas assets were announced in 1999, from Dana Petroleum plc and British Borneo.
In 2000 Centrica further diversified with the opportunistic purchase of OneTel in the UK, a residential telecoms operator.
Soon afterwards Centrica acquired the Dyno franchise group (best known for its Dyno-Rod drains unblocking service). Centrica also moved into the North American energy-supply market through the acquisition of the Canada-based company Direct Energy in 2000 for £406 million.
Direct Energy’s operations were subsequently considerably expanded through a number of further acquisitions, including of Enbridge Services for £437 million in January 2002.
The change of strategy started with the sale of the Goldfish business to Lloyds TSB Bank (who subsequently sold it to Morgan Stanley Bank International Limited). Then in 2004 Centrica sold the AA to two private equity firms; Luxembourgish CVC and British Permira for £1.75 billion.
Then in 2005 Centrica sold their OneTel business to Carphone Warehouse.
Since 2005, Centrica has declared a strategy of consolidating within the energy sector, upstream and downstream, including expanding operations overseas.
In September 2008, the Company acquired the Caythorpe gas-producing field near Bridlington to use for storage purposes.
Rights Issue announced on 31 October 2008 to help fund Centrica’s vertical integration strategy
In August 2009, Centrica took over Venture Production, a North Sea gas producer.
On 17 November 2010, the company acquired the assets of heat pump installation company Cool Planet Technologies Ltd. for £0.5 million in cash.
In February 2011, Centrica signed a £2 billion three-year contract with Qatargas for the purchase of 2.4 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas.
In July 2013, it was announced that the company would acquire the energy marketing unit of Hess Corporation for $1.03 billion.
In March 2014, Centrica acquired the retail arm and other assets belonging to Ireland’s state-owned Bord Gáis for a fee of around €1.1 billion.”
November 2018 - Carers UK partnership announced.
Centrica cut its dividend in July 2019, after making a loss of £446 million in the prior six months
Annual Report 2021 Our strategy is driven by our purpose to help our customers live sustainably, simply and affordably.
£948m Group adjusted operating profit from continuing operations in 2021
Rate how well Centrica lives up to its initial vision.
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Centrica may also be known as or be related to Centrica, Centrica Us Holdings Inc, Centrica Us Holdings Inc. and Centrica plc.