22nd May 2018 07:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - HomeServe PLC said on Tuesday it had a "very good year", as profit climbed and it hiked its payout by a quarter.
The home repairs company said revenue rose 15% in the year to the end of March, coming in at GBP899.7 million, as pretax profit jumped 25% to GBP123.3 million.
The company said it saw "further step change" in North America in the period, as adjusted operating profit for the segment more than doubled to USD64.4 million and customers rose 20% to 3.6 million.
UK adjusted operating profit slipped slightly to GBP61.1 million from GBP63.2 million. Homeserve said this was due to the business investing in strategic initiatives to increase efficiency, expand partnerships and grow Heating and LeakBot opportunities.
The FTSE 250-listed company proposed a final dividend of 14.4p, taking the total dividend for the year to 19.1p, up 25%.
HomeServe said it has "good prospects" for growth in its recently-commenced financial year, with "attractive strategic opportunities" in all its geographies. Continued strong organic growth is expected in North America.
"This has been another great year for HomeServe, with record profit growth and another step change in our growth in North America," said Chief Executive & founder Richard Harpin.
Separately, the company said Martin Bennett, chief executive of HomeServe UK, will step down from the board at the annual general meeting on July 20, and leave the business later in 2018.
"Our recent reorganisation to create four global business lines gave Martin the opportunity to consider his next move, and we respect his decision to move on. We all wish him well for the future," said Chairman Barry Gibson.
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