(Alliance News) - Telecom Plus PLC, which trades as Utility Warehouse, posted annual growth on Tuesday as well as a rosy outlook for the current financial year, where it expects to increase dividend payments.
For the year ended March 31, the London-based multi-utility provider recorded revenue growth of 12% to GBP967.4 million from GBP861.2 million the year before.
The increase reflected higher customer numbers and energy prices during the period, Telecom said.
"The growth in the number of services we are supplying significantly accelerated, with an increase of 191,000 services," the firm said. This compares with an increase of 51,000 services the prior year. This total number of services now stands at 2.3 million, growing from 2.1 million in financial 2021.
Pretax profit grew more moderately at 8.5% to GBP47.2 million from GBP43.5 million, as the gross profit margin decreased by 0.6 of a percentage point to 19.5%.
On an adjusted basis, pretax profit was up 10% to GBP61.9 million from GBP56.1 million.
The adjustment excludes the loss on disposal of its meter operator UW Home Services Ltd in April, as well as goodwill impairment from the conditional disposal of its majority stake in boiler installation business Glow Green Ltd.
The utility will pay out a final dividend of 30 pence per share, bringing the annual total to 57p, unchanged from the previous year.
Shares in Telecom Plus were up 2.3% to 1,808.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
"The business is performing extremely well, delivering record results ahead of expectations. Demand for the long-term savings we offer remains high, and underlying organic customer growth is continuing at an annualised rate of around 20% in the new financial year," said Co-Chief Executive Officer Andrew Lindsay.
The firm expects adjusted pretax profit for financial 2023 to be in the region of GBP75 million, which is ahead of expectations. The boost will enable annual payouts to increase to "not less than" 65p.
By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com
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Telecom Plus (TEP)