Last checked at 17 Sep 2019 07:00
Strictly embargoed until: 07.00, 17 September 2019
Toople PLC
("Toople" or the "Company")
Trading Update
Continued growth in better than expected order numbers over the summer
New sales centre in Durban delivering increased sales
Toople Plc (LSE: TOOP), a provider of bespoke telecom services to UK SMEs, is pleased to provide the following update on trading.
The Company, which is debt free, has enjoyed strong growth in July and August, traditionally seasonally affected, adding 1,300 and 1,000 new customer orders respectively in these months. The Board expects these new customer orders to deliver additional revenues over and above the £500,000 incremental revenues arising from the contracts signed in May 2019.
In addition to the growth in customer orders, Toople is also pleased to announce that the new sales facility established in Durban, South Africa went live in July and is proving to be a major success for the Company. This facility considerably enhances Toople's sales capability, extending working hours into the evenings after 8 p.m. and at the weekends, which traditionally are peak times for SME enquiries. Conversion rates to date are good and comparable to those achieved by the UK team. The impact is an overall lower cost of acquisition per customer and revenue generating unit, which will deliver margin improvements over the medium term.
Commenting, Andy Hollingworth, CEO at Toople said:
"The order numbers achieved in July and August were ahead of our expectations. Growth is being driven by a number of factors, not least a noticeable switch by UK SMEs to superfast fibre broadband, ahead of the eventual closure of existing legacy copper infrastructure in 2025. As businesses are forced to review their existing telecoms services, many are seeking new solutions which provide enhanced quality at an affordable fixed price. SMEs are increasingly dissatisfied with a lack of price transparency, poor service offerings and poor customer service from the traditional tier one providers. Toople is taking advantage of these failings by its bigger competitors and is fast becoming a major disruptor in our segment of the market. The Company continues to make great progress, as evidenced by sales figures over the normally quieter summer period."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse.
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For further information please visit www.toople.com or contact:
Toople PLC Andy Hollingworth, Chief Executive Officer / Kevin Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer
| Tel: 0800 0499 499 |
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP David Coffman / Ludo Lazzaretti
| Tel: 020 7213 0880 |
Novum Securities Limited Colin Rowbury
| Tel: 020 7399 9400 |
Turner Pope Investments Limited Andy Thacker
| Tel: 020 3621 4120 |
Belvedere Communications John West / Llew Angus
| Tel: 020 3687 2754 |
About Toople PLC
Toople Plc, a company incorporated in the UK provides a range of telecoms services primarily targeted at the UK SME market. Services offered by the Group include business broadband, fibre, EFM and Ethernet data services, business mobile phones, cloud PBX and SIP Trunking and Traditional Services (calls and lines) all of which are delivered and managed through Merlin, the Group's proprietary software platform.
The Group is differentiated by its focus on creating small business connectivity solutions, with robust and reliable packages that will enhance our customer's companies. In addition, our vision is based on trust and transparency, with no hidden fees within our pricing policy providing customers with a clear understanding of cost.
Toople Plc has a strong and highly experienced Board and management team who are focused on growing the business both organically and by identifying earnings enhancing strategic acquisition opportunities.