Utilitywise (UTW) - which only floated on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) last June - helps businesses save on their utility bills by installing smart meters to monitor usage, and it's a service that's proving popular among the group's South Shields and Tyne and Wear customer base.
Indeed, the group is growing fast and, since the IPO, the number of contracted meters has risen 39 per cent to 35,400, while contracted customer numbers has jumped 33 per cent to 13,287 during that period. Meanwhile, in just the past six months, the number of the group's energy consultants has risen 38 per cent to 259. Looking forward, one of the key indicators is the customer retention rate - this has increased from 53 per cent at the IPO to 69 per cent at the end of January. Revenue growth is also strongly underpinned by £8.5m of signed contracts that are yet to go live, with chief executive Geoff Thompson saying this number had reached £10.5m at the end of March - typically, these contracts go live within six months.
Broker finnCap expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £6.6m, giving adjusted EPS of 7.5p (from £3.9m and 5.4p in 2012).
UTILITYWISE (UTW) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 93p | MARKET VALUE: | £57m | |
| TOUCH: | 90-95p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 103p | LOW: 60p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.9% | PE RATIO: | 27 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 20p* | NET CASH: | £5m | |
| Half-year to 31 Jan | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 7.09 | 2.49 | 3.6 | nil |
| 2013 | 10.2 | 2.00 | 2.4 | 0.8 |
| % change | +44 | -20 | -33 | - |
Ex-div: 1 May Payment: 22 May *Includes intangible assets of £3.4m, or 5p a share | ||||
