The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found supermarket fuel profit margins were between 8% and 9.1% in the three months to June. Other retailers made between 9.9% and 10.6%. Back in 2017 margins were only 4%.
Dan Turnbull, senior director of markets at the CMA, said: "What's deeply concerning is that fuel margins – a key indicator of retailer profit – remain far above historic levels."
Luke Bosdet from the AA said: "UK consumers will be incensed by confirmation of what they suspected – that they continue to be ripped off."
The average petrol price rose by 1.9p to 133.9p per litre in the three months to the end of August.
Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, said "it’s very concerning" that the CMA has again found fuel margins remain historically high.
He added: "Unfortunately, the CMA’s ongoing scrutiny appears so far to have had little effect on changing retailer behaviour. Hope of seeing more competitive prices on the nation’s forecourts now rests on the Government’s Fuel Finder scheme delivering when it comes into operation at the end of the year. If retailers being mandated to report their prices daily doesn’t lead to greater competition in the market, then further questions will need to be asked."
Gordon Balmer, executive director of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents independent and supermarket forecourts, criticised the CMA report as "incomplete." He said it compares current margins to data from eight years ago.
"PRA continues to reinforce that operating costs for fuel retailers have increased substantially during this period," he said.
"Rising costs of borrowing, increased labour costs due to successive national minimum wage hikes, higher business rates, increased employer National Insurance contributions, soaring energy bills and escalating crime levels all contribute to the financial pressures facing forecourt operators. These are crucial factors when assessing fuel pricing."
The RAC’s Williams said the CMA’s first annual road fuel monitoring report, which is due at the end of the year, will also look at retailer operating costs. It will check how much these affect profit margins and if businesses are taking too much money from motorists who are already struggling.
