British Gas owner hikes dividend as earnings beat forecasts

British gas owner Centrica has hiked its dividend and promised further buybacks as full-year earnings beat consensus forecasts. The FTSE 100 energy firm reported earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £2.3bn for the 12 months ended 31 December. While this was down from last year’s £3.5bn, it was well ahead of analyst [...]