Telecom Plus 'comfortable' with forecasts after strong first half

Utility services group Telecom Plus said it is happy with market expectations for the full year after strong organic growth in the first half.The company, which provides gas, electricity, fixed line telephony, mobile telephony and broadband services, said that the strong growth in both customers and service numbers seen at the start of the year accelerated in the second quarter, and that first-half adjusted profits will be "significantly ahead" of last year.Customer numbers for the first half improved by 34,733 on last year to 565,372, an increase of 6.5%, while service numbers rose 126,537 or 6.6% to 2.03m.Customer and service numbers increased at annualised rates of 13% and 14% in the second quarter alone respectively.The company said that it was on track to increase customer numbers by 70,000 over the full year."It is particularly satisfying to have achieved this strong organic growth during a period when smaller independent suppliers have enjoyed such a significant short-term pricing advantage due to a combination of falling wholesale energy prices and their not being required to make a full contribution towards certain social and environmental charges," Telecom Plus said.It expects this gap to narrow over the coming year.The group said it is "comfortable (subject to unforeseen circumstances)" with market forecasts for adjusted pre-tax profit of £63m for the full year, an increase of nearly 50%. Telecom Plus