24th Mar 2015 08:26
LONDON (Alliance News) - Inspired Energy PLC shares gained ground early Tuesday after the company reported a big rise in pretax profit and revenue for 2014 on the back of massive growth in its small and medium-sized enterprise division, prompting it to hike its dividend payout.
The energy procurement consultancy said pretax profit for the year was GBP3 million, up from GBP1.8 million a year earlier. Revenue increased to GBP10.8 million from GBP7.6 million in the year, boosted by its SME division, where revenue more than doubled over the year, and strong growth in its corporate division.
The company said its corporate order book hit GBP14 million at the year end, up from GBP11 million a year earlier. In the SME business, the company said growth jumped in the second half of the year on the back of good demand for its EnergiSave product and by the acquisitions of KWH Consulting and Simply Business Energy.
Inspired said it will pay a final dividend of 0.18 pence per share, up from 0.12 pence a year earlier, bringing its total dividend for the year to 0.25 pence per year, up 47% from 0.17 pence.
"Inspired went from strength to strength in 2014 with the corporate division delivering exceptional results, achieving significant new customer wins whilst maintaining high customer retention levels which has resulted in a strong uplift in revenue and order book sales," said Managing Director Janet Thornton.
Thornton added the momentum seen in the second half has continued into 2015, particularly in the SME division, and said that unit is outperforming expectations so far this year.
Shares in the company were up 18% to 12.25 pence in early trade, one of the best performers in the AIM All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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