LONDON, June 25, 2026, 14:07 BST
- Centrica was up 2.27% at 177.6 pence at 13:42 BST, beating the FTSE 100, which gained 0.85%.
- The gain is about £182.5 million, based on Centrica’s most recent voting-share count. That’s 49% of the £370 million Centrica paid for Severn.
- UK grid operator spent around £10 million to manage a tight summer electricity market, even as gas prices in the UK eased 1.7%.
Centrica plc (LON:CNA) climbed over 2% to approach 178 pence in London trading on Thursday afternoon. No new regulatory filings appeared after the last director-shareholding notice dated June 11, according to market-data feeds. There was no new price-sensitive filing linked to the move.
Centrica’s equity value shifts by around £46.2 million for every 1p move in its share price, based on the May 31 voting-share count. With shares up 3.95p Thursday, the market value added about £182.5 million. This is just a scale guide, not a statement that one asset was solely repriced.
Centrica’s flexible power unit came into the spotlight as Britain’s National Energy System Operator sent out an Electricity Margin Notice for Wednesday evening. The alert came after high temperatures and weak wind and gas output. NESO’s system operations director Craig Dyke said in a note that the action “does not mean electricity supplies are at risk”. The notice was later pulled as margins got better. National Energy System Operator (NESO)
Heat pushed around 2.5 gigawatts of Britain’s gas plants offline. Wind contribution dropped to 13%–15% of power, well below last year’s 30% average. Britain brought in 1.5GW through imports as prices hit £470 per megawatt-hour.
Centrica picked up the 850MW Severn gas plant for about £370 million in May. The site now makes up 21.25% of its 4GW generation base in the UK and Ireland. Centrica is looking for about £35 million a year in capacity payments until 2030, and sees EBITDA of £30 million to £60 million a year from 2027. “The importance of reliable, flexible generation to balance the system continues to increase,” Chief Executive Chris O’Shea said when the deal closed. Centrica Plc
The equity jump Thursday adds up to around three to six years’ worth of Severn’s forecast EBITDA. That’s also close to half of the company’s purchase price. That makes it less convincing to call the share move a simple Severn repricing.
Qatar’s prime minister said liquefied natural gas output will be back to normal in weeks after the Ras Laffan outage. The signal from commodities went the other way. That undercut the argument for gas prices driving Centrica’s gain.
Centrica announced an 18MW solar farm at Rolleston on Tuesday. That is 2.1% of Severn’s capacity, and 0.45% of total generation. The project alone doesn’t explain Thursday’s value move. Dave Kirwan, Centrica Power’s managing director, said the company is after “stable, predictable returns” through wider expansion. Centrica Plc
Centrica’s weather risk goes both directions. Hot spells trim household gas demand, hitting retail profits. With less wind and some plants offline, the price of flexible power can jump for a while.
Centrica is set to report first-half numbers on July 23. Back in May, the company warned Retail EBITDA would likely come in toward the lower end of its £500 million–£800 million range, blaming less demand on warmer weather. Centrica also pointed to commodity prices and trouble collecting on residential bad debt. On Infrastructure, EBITDA should top the £500 million–£650 million forecast. Severn is still expected to turn in a small net loss for 2026.
