On 10 May 1999 the ordinary share capital of the Company was consolidated on the basis of nine new ordinary shares of 5 5/9 pence for every ten ordinary shares of 5 pence held on 7 May 1999. The consolidation was linked to the payment of a special dividend of 12 pence per share on 23 June 1999.

On 5 July 1999 the acquisition of the AA by Centrica was announced. By the agreement subsequently, ratified by the AA, each fully paid up member on midnight of 4 July was entitled to a cash payment of £248.56, which was paid by cheque in mid-October 1999.

At the time, Centrica made available a low-cost share-dealing facility for eligible members who wished to invest all of their consideration in Centrica ordinary shares.

The payment was regarded as income by the Inland Revenue in the same way as company dividends. A tax voucher with the details was sent with the cheque and showed a tax credit of £27.62 and a cash payment of £248.56.

On 1 July 2004 the sale of the AA for a total consideration of £1.75bn was announced. The net proceeds of the disposal were used to fund a proposed special dividend of 25p per share, accompanied by a share consolidation. In addition, a rolling share repurchase programme of £500 million over the following 12 months was announced. The special dividend and the recently announced interim dividend of 2.5p per share were both paid on 17 November 2004.

The proposed special dividend amounted to approximately 10% of Centrica's market capitalisation as at close of business on 30 September. The share consolidation will similarly reduce the number of Centrica shares in issue by approximately 10%, on a basis of nine new shares for every ten presently held. Thus nine new ordinary shares of 6 14/81 pence each were issued for every ten existing ordinary shares of 5 5/9 pence each held on 22 October 2004.

The new ordinary shares will be treated as the same asset acquired at the same time as your original holding. Therefore, your aggregate base cost remains the same as it was in February 1997, although owing to the two share consolidations, which have resulted in your holding fewer shares, the base price per share will have increased. Further information is available in the Share Consolidation document on request at views@centrica.com.

On 31 October 2008, a Rights Issue was announced on the basis of three new ordinary shares for every eight existing shares held on 14 November 2008, at a subscription price of 160 pence per share. Dealing in the new fully paid ordinary shares commenced on the London Stock Exchange on 15 December 2008.

Shareholders who subscribed for their rights in full should, for UK tax on chargeable gains (CGT) purposes, treat the existing shares as the same asset acquired at the time of acquisition of their existing shares, and the subscription monies for the new shares should be added to the base cost of their existing shareholding.

Further information is available in the Rights Issue prospectus on request at views@centrica.com