LONDON (Alliance News) - Telecom Plus PLC on Tuesday said it expects modest growth in profit, revenue and dividend in the year ahead, as it reported a small decline in profit for its most recently ended financial year amid "challenging market conditions".
The multi-utility provider reported a pretax profit of GBP40.7 million for the year to end-March, down from GBP42.1 million the year before, as a rise in revenue to GBP744.7 million from GBP729.2 million was offset by higher administrative costs.
On an adjusted basis, which cuts out charges related to the company's share incentive scheme and amortisation, pretax profit increased to GBP54.4 million from GBP52.2 million.
Telecom Plus, which trades under the brand Utility Warehouse, said that conditions had been challenging as a result of the fall in wholesale energy commodity prices over the last 30 months, and its decision in March 2015 to stop offering introductory deals to new members in favour of an 'everyday low pricing' approach.
Its total number of services provided reached 2.18 million by the year end, up from 2.09 million the year before. Within this Telecom Plus noted an improvement in customer quality, with 76,765 members taking all five of its core services - landline, broadband, mobile, gas, and electricity - compared to 58,753 the year before.
Telecom Plus proposed a final dividend of 24 pence, taking its total dividend for the year to 46p, up from 40p the year before.
For the year ahead, it expects its adjusted pretax profits to be between GBP55 million and GBP59 million, barring unforeseen circumstances.
"The current adverse market conditions will not persist indefinitely, and we are confident that when the recent downward trend in wholesale commodity prices reverses, our growth rate will start returning towards the higher levels we have historically achieved," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Lindsay in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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Telecom Plus (TEP)