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(Alliance News) - Telecom Plus PLC on Friday said it had performed "in line with expectations" in a difficult year and expects earnings to bounce back in the new financial year.
Telecom Plus is a London-based supplier of gas, electricity, landline, broadband and mobile services to residences and businesses.
For the financial year that ended March 31, the company posted pretax profit of GBP43.5 million, down 10% from GBP48.1 million the year before. On an adjusted basis, profit before tax was GBP56.1 million, down 7.7% from GBP60.8 million.
Adjusted pretax profit is expected to rebound to around GBP60 million in financial 2022, Telecom Plus guided.
Revenue fell 1.7% to GBP861.2 million from GBP875.8 million the year prior.
The FTSE 250-listed utilities retailer saw continued growth in both customers and partners in the recent year, it said.
"Against the challenging backdrop of the past year, I am very pleased with the resilient performance of the business," commented Chief Executive Andrew Lindsay.
"We are emerging from the pandemic with considerable optimism about the future, as millions prepare to return to their workplaces after prolonged periods of working from home, the alternative flexible income opportunity that we offer our partners has never held such appeal."
Going forward, Telecom said that as market conditions start to swing back in its favour this autumn, it is "increasingly confident" that pent-up demand will deliver a return to pre-pandemic levels of service growth, and "provide a solid platform from which to deliver medium term goals".
Expected full-year organic service growth is at a similar level to last year, Telecom stated, with growth weighted towards the second-half.
Telecom Plus declared an annual dividend of 57 pence per share, unchanged on financial 2020, and it expects to maintain the same level 57p in financial 2022.
Telecom Plus shares were down 3.7% at 1,173.35p each in London.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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