British Gas bills could rise further

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British Gas customers could see their prices hiked again towards the second half of the year, as parent company Centrica reports heightened wholesale prices.

The warnings comes in an interim management statement from Centrica, which notes that costs have continued to rise since it put up its prices to customers in January.

In turn, profits for the first half of the year have been squeezed, the utilities supplier reports, dipping below long-term expectations.

"Looking to the full year, forward wholesale gas and power prices in the UK remain stubbornly high," Centrica states.

"While the current outlook for gas prices does create a challenging environment for energy suppliers, we will take the necessary action to deliver reasonable margins in the retail business," the organisation adds.

Gas prices are now at more than 80p per therm on the wholesale market, up from 44p year-on-year, Centrica points out.

However, the firm reports some successes over the course of the year in terms of customer service.

Calls made by British Gas customers are now answered 60 per cent faster than a year ago.

Meanwhile, complaints made to industry watchdog Energywatch regarding British Gas products have fallen by 78 per cent over the past 12 months.

The January price increase put in place by British Gas did not impact all customers immediately, due to the promises enforced on its Essentials tariff.

As a result, those signed up to the scheme did not become subject to the higher prices until the spring.

Some 2.4 million further customers on fixed-price tariffs experienced no increase at all due to the terms of their service, the company added at the time.

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