Utilitywise replacing Thompson as CEO as earnings grow

(ShareCast News) - Utilitywise announced a number of high-level changes on Monday, including the replacement of Geoff Thompson as chief executive, as well as reporting solid growth in its first half update.The AIM-traded firm said founder Thompson would move to a new role on the board as executive chairman.Its board confirmed it has identified a "high calibre external candidate" to replace Thompson as chief executive, and will announce further details once the new CEO's start date is contractually agreed.Richard Feigen - who had chaired the firm since its flotation in 2012 - will remain on the board as a non-executive director, the company confirmed.It also intended to create the new role of senior independent non-executive director, for which a suitably experienced candidate was currently being sought."At this time of evolution and growth for Utilitywise, I am looking forward to starting my new role as executive chairman, which will enable me to focus on group strategy and key client relationships whilst remaining firmly involved in the business," Thompson said on the changes.The new chief executive officer will lead an already robust executive team, which has been strengthened with the recent appointments of Brin Sheridan as chief operating officer and Adrienne McFarland as people operations director, and will focus on driving growth and maximising opportunities in order to realise the ambitions of our company and take us to the next level of success."At the same time, Utilitywise updated the market on its first half performance, reporting a revenue increase of 36% to £41.6m and growth in adjusted EBITDA of 15% to £9.7m.The firm's pre-tax profit in the six months to 31 January was up 17% to £9.1m, with adjusted fully diluted earnings per share increasing 21% to 9.8p.It had net debt at the end of the period of £10.6m, compared with net cash of £1.6m a year earlier."In the core enterprise division revenues grew 31%, however gross margin decreased from 45% in the previous period to 39%," analysts at Shorecap pointed out in a note."The group identifies increased marketing, consultant deployment costs and staff attrition as factors in this decrease. A people operations director has been hired in order to meet the increasing challenge of staff attrition."Increases in consultant headcount have slowed, with the 15 added since the previous period representing a material slowdown," Shorecap researchers added.Utilitywise's board proposed an interim dividend of 2.2p, a 29% increase on 2015's 1.7p.Its board confirmed it has identified a "high calibre external candidate" to replace Thompson as chief executive, and will announce further details once the new CEO's start date is contractually agreed.Richard Feigen - who had chaired the firm since its flotation in 2012 - will remain on the board as a non-executive director, the company confirmed.It also intended to create the new role of senior independent non-executive director, for which a suitably experienced candidate was currently being sought."At this time of evolution and growth for Utilitywise, I am looking forward to starting my new role as executive chairman, which will enable me to focus on group strategy and key client relationships whilst remaining firmly involved in the business," Thompson said on the changes.The new chief executive officer will lead an already robust executive team, which has been strengthened with the recent appointments of Brin Sheridan as chief operating officer and Adrienne McFarland as people operations director, and will focus on driving growth and maximising opportunities in order to realise the ambitions of our company and take us to the next level of success."