Energy firms' profit margins soar

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And privatisation was supposed to make it more competitive.:dk:
 
Benzowner said:
And privatisation was supposed to make it more competitive.:dk:
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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Competition?! As Grober says; they are a cartel.

People whinge about the miners holding the country to ransom during the 70s & 80s, yet what's happening now with these foreign utilities companies?????:mad:

And there's nothing successive governments can do about it! Or don't even try!!!
 
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Sweetpea is right - it's just one cosy cartel.

How hard can it be to have just one price per unit for gas and electricity?
 
It's time that the profit levels for these clowns were capped.

I don't have a problem with them making some profit, and believe that they are more efficient than the public sector was, but they are now taking the mickey out of the consumer and their regulator.
 
Benzowner said:
And privatisation was supposed to make it more competitive.:dk:
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They've since been renationalised.

Only now they're owned by foreign governments.

As are much of our railways, bus services, MG Rover Cars, postal services etc

It's all a bit of a farce really, and everyone is laughing at us...
 
The TV is quoting net £125 profit per year per customer on an average bill of £1300 or so. Less than 10%, is it just me that doesn't find that too shocking. The £1300 worries me more. How much do Tesco / Asda make per customer per year ? How much does Mercedes UK make?
 
mirras said:
The TV is quoting net £125 profit per year per customer on an average bill of £1300 or so. Less than 10%, is it just me that doesn't find that too shocking. The £1300 worries me more. How much do Tesco / Asda make per customer per year ? How much does Mercedes UK make?
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The figures can be manipulated whichever way is needed, but the facts are that gas, electric, water etc etc are all of national importance; these companies have 100% guaranteed custom so they can do as they please.

Given, they throw people a bone now and again with a 'price war' but there is very little, if any, difference in the pricing between the lot of them.

That reminds me, I must tell the head butler to cut the heating & electric usage in their quarters.
 
mirras said:
The TV is quoting net £125 profit per year per customer on an average bill of £1300 or so. Less than 10%, is it just me that doesn't find that too shocking. The £1300 worries me more. How much do Tesco / Asda make per customer per year ? How much does Mercedes UK make?
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Last year On a turnover of 62.5b, Tesco made 3.5b profit. That's a 5.4% margin. Tesco rings up record profits | Business | guardian.co.uk That's Tesco whose dedication to free enterprise extends to buying up all zoned development land in a particular location to prevent rivals from building competing stores. :rolleyes:

The crucial difference between MB and utilities companies is that true cheaper alternatives exist for the car buyer. With energy companies the choice is pay up or freeze your b*tt off. :dk:
 
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private companies are good at innovation, public bodies are good at large point to point services. if i want an ipod i go to the private sector, if i want a large infrastructure managed effectively(i dont mean cheaply) then the public sector should be the choice. water and energy shouldn't be private. water isn't private in scotland and we do just fine.
 
davethemus said:
water isn't private in scotland and we do just fine.
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While I agree with this you do have to watch when making comparisons.

Water in Scotland is abundant and relatively close to major population centres and soft with huge natural reservoirs. The population in Scotland has been relatively static.

The same can't be said for parts of England.
 
grober said:
Last year On a turnover of 62.5b, Tesco made 3.5b profit. That's a 5.4% margin. Tesco rings up record profits | Business | guardian.co.uk That's Tesco whose dedication to free enterprise extends to buying up all zoned development land in a particular location to prevent rivals from building competing stores. :rolleyes:
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Tesco are not exposed to a single underlying commodity market.

They have more power over their suppliers.

But do a 'newspaper calculation' on Tesco and the numbers can be made 'interesting' as well.

How many households in the UK? Say 20 million. Tesco UK profits. Let's say £2 billion. Tesco share of market 30%. So that's like 6 million households.

OMG: Tesco make £333 per UK household !!
 
Don't forget that Tesco's is now international. I understand that the overseas stores are more profitable than the UK - although they would say that....

Also - Someone who shops at Tesco's probably spends far more with them than they do on utilities.
 
davidjpowell said:
Also - Someone who shops at Tesco's probably spends far more with them than they do on utilities.
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A utility ties you in much more tightly. People don't just chop and change.

OTOH for many in towns and cities it's no big deal to use Tesco one day and Morrisons or Asda or Sainsburys the next.
 
mirras said:
The TV is quoting net £125 profit per year per customer on an average bill of £1300 or so. Less than 10%, is it just me that doesn't find that too shocking. The £1300 worries me more. How much do Tesco / Asda make per customer per year ? How much does Mercedes UK make?
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Mercedes, Tesco and Asda operate in a competitive market and in the case of Mercedes they supply a luxury product rather than an essential service. The "Big Six" energy providers collude in order to stifle any true competition and make it difficult for new suppliers to enter the market.
 
Many of the major energy suppliers are also in the wholesale energy market too - so when they blame the wholesale prices increase for the next price rise, remember where the wholesale energy comes from.
 
davidjpowell said:
and their regulator.
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A regu what?

What's that then?

...

Ahhh... just read the dictionary definition:

"A body of people who have no teeth and let the energy companies do what they want and are therefore effectively a complete waste of our money, which we don't have because we are propping up the energy companies' extortionate profits..."

That makes sense now.
 
Not to mention that when people ( fools ) do switch following advice from regulators, these energy companies hit the 'spin the wheels' button and re-jumble the tarrifs. So what would they do if everyone did guess the correct tarrif or god forbid, cut back on use to save energy, well they would just bang up their service charges. AGAIN !
 
Benzowner said:
And privatisation was supposed to make it more competitive.:dk:
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Maybe it has and at the same time they have become more efficient so reducing costs while making more income from none core business.
 
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