15th Jul 2014 07:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Telecom Plus PLC Tuesday gave a bullish forecast for its first-half, expecting results "significantly ahead" of the previous year as it saw a strong performance in its first quarter to the end of June.
The utilities company, which provides services including gas, electricity and broadband, said it had seen customer numbers rise during the quarter to 547,378 from 474,404 in the previous year.
It expressed confidence in meeting its target of growing its customer base to around 600,000 by the end of the year.
The number of services provided grew to 1.96 million from 1.66 million during the year. Telecom Plus added 2,500 new partners during the year, taking its total to 46,602 it said.
Telecom Plus highlighted the continued low levels of confidence in conventional utility suppliers as a growth driver, as customers remained attracted to combining and consolidating their utilities in one place. The company launched its online application process in March, and 75% of residential customer applications are now generated using this process, it said.
It will continue to develop this online application process and associated marketing tools using feedback from its partners, in hopes to driving up a higher number of users to take up its 'Gold' service bundles and make it easier for customers to sign up.
Telecom Plus cited the extended upheaval of the energy market after UK regulator OFGEM's retail market review and the recently announced investigation from the Competition and Markets authority. It expects to benefit from actions taken by the CMA as an independent supplier, and expects to see the benefit from changes implemented after OFGEM's review over the next year.
Energy prices are set to remain broadly stable in the run up to next years general election, said the company, as upward pressure on costs from regulatory, environmental and political changes are offset by lower wholesale costs.
The company said it remains comfortable with its guidance that profits for the full-year will rise by almost 50% to GBP63 million, and reiterated its commitment to continuing its progressive dividend policy.
"The momentum within the business is continuing, with organic growth in customer numbers during the first quarter comfortably ahead of the levels achieved last year," said Chief Executive Andrew Lindsay in a statement.
"With a current market share of less than 2%, we are well placed to continue to deliver significant organic growth for many years to come," Linsday added.
Telecom Plus will announce its interim results November 19.
Shares in Telecom Plus were trading up 6.6% at 1,320.00 pence Tuesday morning, the biggest gainer on the FTSE 250.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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