British Gas owner Centrica has announced it is to cut 6,000 jobs by 2020.

The announcement comes as the group reports a doubling of profits at the British Gas business in the first six months of 2015.

In its annual Interim Results report, the company said half the jobs lost would be through redundancies.

In addition, Centrica said it would create jobs in growth areas.

Overall, it is expecting the net impact to be approximately 4,000 job losses.

-- Advertisement --

In the first half of 2015, profits at British Gas rose from £265 million to £528 million.

However, overall group profit fell by 3% to £1 billion.

Centrica stated much of the profit increase at British Gas was due to higher gas consumption as a result of colder than normal weather compared to the warmer first half in 2014.

In July, the company announced a 5% reduction in its residential gas tariffs, meaning the average standard British Gas bill will have reduced by £72 per household since the start of the year.

Ian Conn, Centrica Chief Executive, said: "With Centrica delivering solid financial and operational performance in the first half of the year, and making good progress in strengthening its balance sheet and reducing net debt, the Group is well placed to compete materially against the emerging long-term trends in global energy markets."

(LM/MH)