British Gas owner Centrica has revealed its chief executive, Chris O’Shea, secured £3.6 million in bonuses and share awards last year, despite the energy giant seeing its underlying earnings nearly halve.
The power company’s annual report showed that Mr O’Shea reeceived a £1.4 million annual bonus and £2.2 million in long-term share awards for 2025, in addition to his £1.04 million salary.
The payouts were disclosed alongside full-year results showing Centrica’s underlying earnings slumped to £814 million in 2025, a significant drop from £1.55 billion in the prior year. The household supply arm alone was hit by an £80 million impact from unusually warm weather.
Earnings in its household energy supply business tumbled 39 per cent to £163 million, as warmer conditions led customers to reduce central heating usage and switch to cheaper fixed tariff deals.
Mr O’Shea’s total pay package stood at £4.73 million for 2025, down from £5.08 million in 2024, according to the report.
The hefty bonuses for Centrica’s top boss also come despite a shareholder rebellion at last year’s annual general meeting, when nearly 40 per cent of shareholders voted against the board’s pay plans.
Mr O’Shea has courted controversy with his pay in recent years, having previously admitted there was “no point” trying to justify an £8.2 million package in 2023.
The latest report showed he will also see his pay increase by 3 per cent to £1.13 million a year from 1 April, adding that the wider 22,000-strong workforce will also have average pay rises of 3 per cent to 4 per cent.
His ratio of pay when compared with the average employee salary at Centrica stood at 71:1 last year.
In its latest annual report, Centrica said: “The committee believes that the adjustments to Chris O’Shea’s remuneration in 2025 aligned with competitive market rates given the size and complexity of Centrica.
“Chris’ performance and experience over the last five years since his appointment as the group chief executive warrants positioning his pay between the median and upper quartile of other CEOs in the FTSE 100.”
Shares in the firm fell 5 per cent in Thursday afternoon trading, having dropped as much as 10 per cent earlier in the day after revealing in full-year results that it was pausing share buybacks to prioritise an investment programme.
Mr O’Shea said: “The environment has been challenging, and performance has varied across the business.
“However, we have remained disciplined, delivering strong operational performance and achieving customer growth across all our retail businesses simultaneously for the first time in over a decade.”
He added: “Pausing the buyback enables us to prioritise investment that creates lasting value for shareholders, while continuing to deliver the reliable, affordable energy that households and businesses need to power economic growth through the transition.”
