Utilitywise hikes dividend after strong year, strengthens board

(ShareCast News) - AIM-listed energy consultancy Utilitywise hiked its dividend 30% and hired two new directors after an encouraging year in which revenue grew strongly and new partnerships raised expectations.Revenue increased 22% for the year ended 31 July, to £84.4m, compared to the previous year which resulted in a 7% rise in pre-tax profit to £17.7m and diluted earnings per share edging 3% higher to 18.5p.Net debt almost halved to £200,000 due to improved commercial terms with energy suppliers and with strong operating cash flow generation, cash doubled to almost £13m at the year end.The total dividend was upped 30% to 6.5p reflecting the board's confidence entering the new year.The Newcastle-based company, which at the start of this month appointed Sage's Brendan Flattery as chief executive while founder Geoff Thompson becomes executive chairman, reported a 35% growth in its enterprise order book to £84.5m and a 23% increase in UK and Ireland customers to 32,000 while international customer numbers rose 49% to 6,500.After agreeing a partnership agreement with Dell in April to introduce internet-of-things building automation solutions to customers, since the year-end the pair won a contract from Walmart's Asda to deploy Utilitywise's Dell-based 'Integrated Technology Management Solution' across its UK estate.On Tuesday, the company also announced that chief financial officer Jon Kempster will be replaced by Richard Laker, ex of Augean and Northgate, with former British Gas sales and marketing director Simon Waugh also joining the board as a non-executive director. Thompson said he was "pleased" with the progress the company was making in creating an offering with "no direct comparator in the industry"."The strength of the procurement offering has provided a great foundation to make significant investment in our wider energy services capabilities allowing the group access to significant growth opportunities going forward."This period of investment has positioned us very well for strong and sustainable growth with our broadened and differentiated offering."Shares in Utilitywise were up 1.88% to 130.15p at 1012 BST.