Cold winter boosts Centrica profits

Householders boosted profits for British Gas owner Centrica at the start of the year as consumption increased by nearly a fifth compared with 2012 during the prolonged cold snap.

But the energy giant, which raised prices by 6% in December just before the harsh weather set in, said that instead of pocketing the extra earnings it would use them to prevent any further price increases "for as long as possible".%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%