British Gas today revealed profits at its residential arm surged five-fold to £571 million last year.The news comes just weeks after the Centrica-owned provider hit around 13 million customers with double-digit energy bill hikes.

British Gas today revealed profits at its residential arm surged five-fold to £571 million last year.

The news comes just weeks after the Centrica-owned provider hit around 13 million customers with double-digit energy bill hikes.

The British Gas operating profits surge contributed to a 40 per cent leap in group-wide earnings, at £1.95 billion last year, according to Centrica.