Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Telecom Plus PLC said on Tuesday it has seen a "strong start" to its financial year, with customer and service growth ahead of expectations, amid a slight rise in interim profit.
Telecom Plus shares were up 5.7% at 1,270.80 pence on Tuesday.
Revenue for the half year to September 30 rose 4% to GBP311 million, with pretax profit up 1.2% to GBP19.3 million. The communication and energy services provider raised its dividend by 4.2% to 25 pence per share.
Organic customer and service growth was ahead of expectations, the FTSE 250 constituent said, with positive momentum. Customer numbers for the period were up by 10,479 - compared to a rise of 5,265 a year before - to 621,218.
Total services supplied for the period rose by 86,372 - compared to 36,348 growth last year - to 2.4 million.
"Growth during the first half of the financial year was encouraging at double the level we achieved during the corresponding period last year. We look forward to the introduction of the energy price cap at the end of 2018 which will further improve our competitive position, and the impact we expect this to have on our future growth," said Chief Executive Andrew Lindsay.
Lindsay continued: "We are on track to deliver growth in customer and service numbers that is materially up year on year, and expect adjusted profit before tax for the year to remain in the range previously provided of GBP55 million-GBP60 million. It has been a number of years since the overall outlook has appeared as positive."
