LONDON (Alliance News) - Utilitywise PLC, the independent utility cost-management consultancy company, Tuesday reported an increase in pretax profit and revenue as it plans to continue to grow over the next two years, including an expansion into Europe.
For the full year ended July 31, the company saw its pretax profit almost double to GBP11.4 million compared to USD6.2 million a year earlier. This is due to its revenue also doubling to USD48.6 million during the financial year compared to USD25.3 million in 2013.
The company also has secured a revenue pipeline of GBP28.2 million that is not realised in its financial statements, representing visible revenue streams, it said in a statement.
Utilitywise said its revenue growth was due to an increase in the number of consultants it employs increasing to 363 from 281 in 2013. The company continues to employ further consultants and has also secured a partnership with the British Chamber of Commerce, which will refer additional customers to the company, it said.
"Headcount remains the greatest driver of our core offering in order to convert the vast number of opportunities identified. As such, we will continue to add further to our staffing levels over the course of the current year. The success of this approach can be further seen through the level of contracts waiting to go live," said Utilitywise.
"I am very pleased to report on another year of significant growth for the group, demonstrating the momentum we have established as a result of both organic growth and the successful integration of our recent acquisitions," said Chief Executive Geoff Thompson.
Utilitywise declared a full-year dividend of 4.0 pence per share, up from 2.6p the year before.
The company has restructured the business into two divisions. The first is the Corporate division that concentrates on larger industrial and commercial customers, consisting of Clouds Environmental Society Ltd, Aqua Veritas Consulting Ltd and Energy Information Centre Ltd, all of which have been acquired over the last two years. The second segment is the Enterprise division, focusing on small and medium enterprises.
"The company's aim to grow its market share of both small to medium enterprises and industrial and commercial customers, the directors believe that there is an opportunity to capitalise on the company's established relationships with energy suppliers who continue to show an interest in some of the company's energy management products and services for sale into the supplier's customer base," said Thompson in a statement.
The company's strategy is focused around three growth areas, it said. The first is organic growth which will see the number of employed consultants reach 700 by 2016. The second is acquisitions as the company continues to evaluate a number of opportunities, mainly focused around the controls and demand management sectors. The last area is an expansion into Europe as the company believes it can build on its acquisition of Icon Communication Centres SRO earlier this year, which operates in different geographical areas, said Utilitywise in a statement.
Utilitywise shares were up 3.8% to 293.75 pence per share early Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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