BRITISH GAS’s owners have made £56 billion since privatisation 40 years ago, it was revealed today, as campaigners slammed the firm for profits made “on the back of households struggling in debt.”

End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) co-ordinator Simon Francis said financial results posted by the gas provider’s parent firm Centrica is a sign ministers must halt the cycle of household energy debt fuelling shareholder wealth.

In results published today, Centrica added a further £497 million to its adjusted operating profits, bringing the total made by British Gas and its successor company to more than £56bn since it was privatised, campaigners said.

EPFC analysis looking at the company’s finances since the Gas Act of 1986 found it has made an average of £1.4bn in profit every year since British Gas was sold off.

About £9bn of that was made in 2020, as households faced record high bills due to volatile gas prices.

“That one firm can extract so much profit from households over a 40-year period underlines that more public control is needed,” Mr Francis said.

The EFPC’s research estimated the number of households in deep fuel poverty, spending more than 20 per cent of their income on energy, at about 5.5m.

And almost a third of households are either in energy debt or worried about falling in arrears in the weeks and months ahead, the EFPC added.

Mr Francis said: “Privatisation has been good to Centrica’s shareholders and executives, but not for the consumers who have faced energy bill increases year after year.

“What’s worse, recent profits posted by the firm have been made on the backs of households struggling in energy debt, which itself is caused by unaffordable bills.”

Uplift deputy director Robert Palmer said it was “scandalous” that Centrica made so much in profits since privatisation, adding: “That’s money which has been paid out by the rest of us to its bosses and shareholders.

“Add this to the fact that we have no control over gas prices, which rise every time there’s global conflict, and it explains why our bills are so high.”

Centrica also announced today that it will axe a further 800 jobs on top of the 500 previously announced, as it overhauls its customer services and support team.