Britain's biggest gas supplier, British Gas has said that it is aiming to win back customers that defected to other rivals in recent months.

British Gas will announce that about 370,000 customer accounts defected to rivals during the fourth quarter of the financial year. The company is planning to release its full-year earnings report on 20 February, 2014. The company is expected to announce that its operating profit will allow it to secure long term gas supplies for the UK. Analysts have said that the company's operating profits are expected to rise to about 2.7 billion pounds amid intense political pressure over high margins.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey has criticised the major energy firms in the country for huge profit margins in supplying gas. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and the owner of Scottish Gas, Centrica saw a fall in their share prices after Davey indicated that such firms might be broken up. Mr Davey estimated that margins on gas bills were up to five times than that on electricity.

Davey said that British Gas had the highest profit margins in the industry and has a market share of 41 per cent.