The Government, NOT Energy Companies is Raking It In!

GET IN TOUCH

The Government, NOT Energy Companies is Raking It In!

Antony Nailer • 24 August 2022

Antony Nailer explains why the government should be blamed for excessive profiteering, rather than power companies

The headline claims of profiteering by the energy companies is stoked by the government hoping to impose a windfall tax, eagerly reported by the newspapers and left-wing TV as giving billions of pounds to greedy shareholders, instead of lowering bills.

They recently attacked the profit by Centrica, the owner of British Gas, of £1.2b in the year to April 2021 alone, since then energy prices have gone through the roof and future profit will be even higher.

Steady on now. Centrica has to import a huge amount of gas from Norway and Europe and pay wholesale price, which has jumped. So, they apparently have made a significant increase in profit to April 2022, and even more since then as gas prices keep rising.

This means a higher turnover, with higher costs, and higher net profit. If we now look at the turnover for the year to April 2021 it was £18,300 million, with a net profit of £1,210 million, so the profit on turnover was 1210 x 100 / 18300 = 6.6%. That is not an obscene amount of profit.

Shareholders are always blamed for profiteering at the expense of non-shareholding people.

Shareholders risk their money to earn income and it isn’t all sweetness and light. Share values go up and down and annual dividends vary enormously.

I bought over £7000 worth of Centrica shares in late 2015 and had dividends totalling £1370 over the next 5 years. During that time and with the constant negative press against electricity generation using gas, the share value fell sharply. When there was no first dividend in 2021, I sold the shares at a loss of over £4500. So much for greedy shareholders.

I have a number of shares in different companies, and some do well and others not and it is always a balance between share value and dividend. Overall, my dividends for the year to April 2021 averaged out at 3.55% of the value of the shares. That’s not greed it is however a lot better than below 1% interest offered on savings by the banks.

So don’t accept government and MSM blame on apparently huge profit numbers but calculate what that is in terms of turnover. If it is well under 10% of turnover, that is not excessive and out of that profit they have to pay a proportion in dividends.

Always remember that the government is getting 20% in Corporation Tax and that is linked to profit. It’s the government who is raking it in, not the companies.

UKIP supports free enterprise, regardless how the businesses have to raise money, either from the banks, or from share investors.

Antony Nailer

UK Independence Party - Spokesman for Energy, Environment, Transport, & Treasury

< Older Post Newer Post >

Recent National News

Enough is Enough

by Cameron Bishop • 2 November 2024

Cameron Bishop Former Police Crown Servant, Solicitor & UKIP Activist

Ever wondered what makes UKIP different?

by Ben Walker • 21 October 2024

Ben Walker National Party Chairman - UK Independence Party

The Father of BREXIT Dies

by Stuart Gulleford • 11 September 2024

Jeffrey Titford 24.10.1933 – 09.09.2024 Jeffrey Titford, the former Leader of the UK Independence Party and two term MEP for the East of England, has passed away, after suffering from cancer. His family announced his death on 10 th September, aged 90. Jeffrey was one of the fathers of Brexit, coming to the fore in national and international politics at a time when leaving the EU was considered unthinkable and long before it became official Conservative Party policy. A visionary and a democrat, who did not believe that EU membership provided a viable future for Britain as an independent, self-governing nation, Jeffrey Titford was elected to the European Parliament at the 1999 European Parliamentary Elections, aged 63. He was one of three UK Independence Party MEPs elected, which sent shock waves through the political world. He became Leader of the Party in 2000 and served for three years bringing stability and respectability to its campaigns. During this period, he made seventy speeches a year, travelling all over the country. He also served as interim Leader from September to November 2010, following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch, while the election of a new Leader was held. During his time in the European Parliament, he made dozens of speeches in Plenary session severely criticising the EU and particularly the level of fraud in its finances. He also extensively lobbied the European Commission and the Government in Westminster on behalf of the British fishing and farming industries. He led several delegations of fishermen to see UK Agriculture Ministers in Westminster and also took a delegation to meet the European Commissioner for Fishing in Brussels. He wrote monthly columns for the East Anglian Daily Times, the Hertfordshire Mercury and Farmers Guide and made many appearances on regional television. He also made a guest appearance on Breakfast with Frost. Jeffrey Titford’s political career began in 1970, when he became a Councillor on the Clacton Urban District Council. He ended his association with the Conservative Party in 1992, in protest over Prime Minister John Major’s signing of the Maastricht Treaty. He joined Sir James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party and, in a sign of things to come, stood in the General Election of 1997 in Harwich when he was the Party’s most successful candidate, securing almost 10 per cent of the vote and, in the process, unseating the sitting Member of Parliament. Following the death of Sir James Goldsmith, Jeffrey was invited to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP), where he established a branch in Clacton and a regional committee, which led to his successful campaign in the European Elections in 1999. He paved the way for Nigel Farage’s subsequent success in Clacton at the 2024 General Election. He was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2004, with a greatly increased share of the vote and UKIP also returned a second MEP. He retired from European Politics in 2009 and was made an Honorary Patron of the Party in 2006 and became President for Life in 2011. Life before politics Following National Service in the RAF, Jeffrey joined the family’s funeral directing business in 1956, where he had a 35 year career, during which he served for 12 years on the National Association of Funeral Director’s (NAFD) National Executive and rose to National President in 1975-76. He was instrumental in developing an official code of practice for the funeral profession, at the request of the Office of Fair Trading. He also successfully campaigned for funeral directors to have the right to sell a package funeral and carried out the first review of the practice manual for funeral directing, which led to the creation of a formal qualification for funeral directors, recognised by the NAFD. He sold the company in February 1989 and retired from the profession. An enthusiastic Rotarian, Jeffrey served as President of the Clacton and later Frinton Rotary Clubs. He also belonged to the Clacton Operatic and Clacton Dramatic Societies, taking lead roles in both companies. However, his most successful hobby was rally driving. He was a leading light in the Clacton Motor Club in the early seventies for whom he was the regional rally champion for six consecutive years. Jeffrey Titford was a devoted family man and is survived by his wife Margaret, one son, three daughters, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.