Centrica warns of rising costs

Scottish Gas-owner Centrica said on Friday its upstream oil and gas business helped boost first-quarter trading as it suffered a rebuke over boardroom pay.

The group is expected to report earnings of 14p per share in the first half of the year, on sales of nearly £11 billion.

The news came as almost 12 per cent of shareholders voted against executive pay plans at its annual meeting.

Its remuneration report proposed that chief executive Sam Laidlaw would receive a potential £3.8 million for 2011 in long-term performance-related deals. He was also awarded a bonus worth £848,000 in shares that will pay out in three years’ time.

The company also said the number of residential energy customer accounts on supply was largely unchanged from the start of the year.