(Alliance News) - Telecom Plus PLC, which trades as Utility Warehouse, said on Thursday that profit for its financial year ended March 31 are in line with expectations despite a backdrop of "spiralling energy bills" and the broader cost of living crisis.
The London-based multi-utility provider said it expects pretax profit in line with expectations despite additional operating costs during the second half of its year. Telecom Plus had previously anticipated pretax profit of GBP60 million.
Consensus for the current year stands within the range of GBP59.0 million to GBP60.1 million.
Customer numbers in the year increased by 71,269 to 728,680 and core service numbers grew by 191,112 to 2.3 million. This represented growth of 11% and 9.3%, respectively.
The average number of services taken by new customers fell slightly during financial 2022 compared with the preceding year, the company explained. This was mainly due to an influx of customers over the autumn who were only looking to replace their previous energy supplier who had ceased trading, it said.
In line with the previous year, Telecom Plus intends to pay a total dividend of 57 pence per share though it added that this payout is expected to increase in the coming year.
Looking forward, the company said it expects to be sheltered by its "strong" customer demographic in regards to increasing energy wholesale costs.
Co-Chief Executives Andrew Lindsay and Stuart Burnett said: "Against the backdrop of spiralling energy bills and the broader cost of living crisis, UW is uniquely positioned to help families across the UK not only save on their bills but to also earn a much needed additional income.
"These dynamics are reflected in record numbers of partners joining Team Purple, and rising levels of partner activity, as they find their prospects increasingly attracted to the savings we deliver. As a result we expect the annualised growth in customers of 20% that we achieved during the second half to continue throughout the new financial year," they continued.
Shares in Telecom Plus were up 5.7% at 1,617.88 pence on Thursday morning in London.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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Telecom Plus (TEP)