British Gas, which has also been hindered by problems with the introduction of a new billing system, managed to stem the decline in June by offering cheaper rates.
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The group said this included the “impact of a significant roll-off of long-term fixed contracts in the first quarter”, but also noted: “Market conditions remain competitive for United Kingdom home, with falling gas and power prices supporting the growth of new suppliers, historically high levels of energy supplier switching, and changing customer demand for services”.
“However, its best deal is still nearly £290 a year more than the cheapest on the market so customers are likely to find better savings by switching to other providers”, she added.
The company said that while residential customer numbers fell in the first half as a whole, they returned to growth in June after it introduced a 5% cut to domestic gas bills in March. Profits from British Gas’s energy supply business alone dropped 7% to £516 million.
Conn said 44 energy suppliers were now registered or seeking registration compared with around 25 two years ago, but smaller suppliers may struggle if commodity prices improve.
Chief executive Iain Conn said the first six months of the year had been “demanding”.
But uSwitch urged the company to go further.
He added: “At the moment, all BG plans are priced the same – the trick is to have a better variety of products, incentives and prices to appeal to more consumer groups”.
“Commodity prices remain at low levels despite recent increases, and this will inevitably have an impact on the earnings and cash flow from our E&P and central power generation businesses in the second half of 2016, as historic hedges roll off”, the company said in the statement.
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The loss helped contribute to a 13 per cent fall in revenue to £13.4 billion at Centrica, the owner of British Gas and Britain’s biggest energy supplier.
