Anger at British Gas as owner Centrica reports £606m profit The owner of British Gas ran the gauntlet of public anger today as it revealed a £606 million profit haul at its residential arm months after hiking customer tariffs. Centrica said an 11 per cent rise in profits at British Gas residential came after last year's colder-than-normal weather saw gas use leap 12 per cent and in spite of a 1 per cent fall in customer accounts to 15.7 million in 2012. The results are likely to raise questions over the fairness of energy bill increases after British Gas raised tariffs by 6 per cent for around 8.4 million households at the end of last year. Group adjusted operating profits rose 14 per cent to £2.7 billion, but Centrica said it paid more than £1 billion in tax and invested £2.7 billion in 2012.