UK watchdog delays energy probe provisional findings until March

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Britain's competition authority will publish provisional findings in an investigation into the country's largest energy suppliers in March instead of the end of this month, it said on Wednesday.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it needs more time to consider responses received in relation to prepayment sectors which might restrict competition. The final report will be published in June, with a statutory deadline of June 25.

The CMA is investigating the supply and acquisition of energy in Britain. In 2014, energy market regulator Ofgem referred the energy market to the CMA based on suspicions that some features were preventing or distorting competition.

Six suppliers - SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) , Iberdrola (Amsterdam: ID6.AS - news) 's Scottish Power, Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) , RWE (Xetra: 703712 - news) npower, E.ON and EDF Energy - control more than 90 percent of the market and have been under scrutiny because of public outrage over rising energy bills.

On Wednesday, E.ON became the first big British energy supplier to announce household winter gas price cuts on Wednesday after a fall in wholesale prices, putting pressure on rivals to follow suit. (Reporting by Nina Chestney)