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Highlights:
- Energy bills in the UK have risen significantly since April and are expected to rise further from October.
- Consultancy firm Cornwall Insight has predicted that they may reach £4,266 annually in the first quarter of 2023.
Millions of Brits are already troubled by high energy bills ever since the energy price cap revision came into effect in April, raising the average household bill from £1,227 to £1,971. This 54% rise has put a massive squeeze on people's pockets and pushed the country's inflation rate to 40-year-high levels. However, the problems for Brits are expected to rise further.
According to consultancy Cornwall Insight, the energy bills may reach as much as £4,266 annually in the first quarter of next year. In the subsequent quarter, the bills may hit £4,426 before finally easing to £3,810 in the third quarter. They'll then drop to £3,781 in the final quarter of 2023, it predicted.
Image source: © Lovelyday12 | Megapixl.com
The latest prediction comes a week after Cornwall predicted that the bills might rise to £3,615 a year from January. The reason behind raising the forecast, as per the consultancy, is the increase in wholesale price and a revision in the methodology that UK's energy regulator Ofgem used to calculate the price cap.
Cornwall also raised its earlier forecast for October, when the next price cap revision comes into effect. The cap is now expected to hit £3,582, £200 higher than its previous forecast.
In the wake of the latest predictions, Kalkine Media® explores a few energy utility companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and how their stocks have been performing.
Centrica Plc (LON: CNA)
Centrica is an energy services and solutions company listed on the benchmark FTSE 100 index. With a market cap of £5,180.94 million, the stock has provided a return of over 70% to investors in the past 12 months, while the year-to-date return has reached 16.50%. The stock traded at GBX 83.30, up 0.36% as of 12:29 pm GMT+1 on 9 August 2022.
Drax Group Plc (LON: DRX)
The FTSE 250 constituent is engaged in the business of power generation using renewable resources and the production of renewable biomass. It holds a market cap of £3,077.65 million, and its share value has climbed by more than 90% over the past one year. On a year-to-date basis, the stock has provided a return of 27.36% to investors. DRX shares were trading at GBX 771.00, up 0.39%, as of 12:20 pm GMT+1 on Tuesday.
Telecom Plus Plc (LON: TEP)
The UK-based multi-utility firm supplies electricity and gas to both residential and corporate customers. Over the past 12 months, the company has offered whopping returns of 105.78% to shareholders. The year-to-date returns have reached 34.68%, while the EPS is currently at 0.45. The shares of Telecom Plus were trading 1.67% higher at GBX 2,135.00 as of 12:33 pm GMT+1 on Tuesday.
Note: The above content constitutes a very preliminary observation or view based on market trends and is of limited scope without any in-depth fundamental valuation or technical analysis. Any interest in stocks or sectors should be thoroughly evaluated taking into consideration the associated risks.
