times11 Apr 2018 18:39
have copied and pasted it as many don`t have a times subscription , but �14 K ??
A listed small energy supplier with 130,000 customers is to sell off its business at a rock-bottom price after concluding that it cannot raise the cash it needs to keep operating.
Flow Group, the Aim-listed parent of Flow Energy, claimed that the government�s planned price cap was partly to blame for its decision to sell the supplier to Co-Operative Energy for �9.3 million in a deal that will wipe out its shareholders.
It also blamed intense competition from new cut-price rivals and admitted that it was struggling for cash to pay for the extra energy used by its customers during the recent cold snap.
The deal will compound fears over the financial health of small suppliers after the failures of two other companies since November 2016. The government has encouraged the growth of small suppliers to take on the Big Six, but critics say that regulation is too lax.
Co-Operative Energy has about 320,000 customers.
The proposed sale of Flow Energy, which was launched in 2013, will strip Flow Group of its main business and it is expected to lead to the shares being cancelled. The shares plunged 61 per cent to just 0.03p yesterday after it said that the sale would �return a value to ordinary shareholders of �nil�. Sale proceeds will be used to reduce debts, although lenders are still expected to take a significant hit.
Flow Group said that the government�s price cap would make the Big Six suppliers cut their prices, so would make their customers less likely to switch to companies like Flow Energy.
Energetix, Flow Group�s predecessor, floated on Aim in 2006 and originally was focused on selling micro-CHP boilers, a business that has since struggled amid regulatory changes. Flow Group said yesterday that it planned to sell the business for only �14,000.