Yu Group pours money into growth as revenues accelerate

Corporate gas and electricity supplier Yü Group updated the market on its trading for the six months ended 30 June on Monday, reporting that group revenues were anticipated to be in the region of £35m, representing an increase of 69%.

The AIM-traded firm said that at period end, it had £37m of contracted revenue, which was expected to be recognised in the remaining six months of the current financial year.

When combined with anticipated bookings during the second half of the year, Yu said it was expecting to report revenues of at least £82m for the full year to 31 December, being a 74% increase on the prior year with both revenue and EBIT for 2018 expected to be in line with market expectations.

The group said it had generated more than £2m of free cash flow in the period, resulting in a cash balance as at 30 June of £18.2m.

It explained that the proceeds of the placing undertaken in March were being deployed to accelerate growth, and enabling management to increase investment in staff and infrastructure to support the continued growth that was reportedly evident in the business.

With contracted revenue for 2019 already standing at £45m, Yu said the benefit of that investment would bear fruit in 2019 and beyond.

In line with the investment, staff numbers were continuing to grow with current headcount at 140.

The board said the new office in Leicester was currently operating from a leased facility, with the group entering into an agreement to acquire a new permanent purpose-built office, due to open during the course of 2019.

Yu added that the process of appointing a group finance director to replace Nick Parker was at an “advanced stage”, with the Board said to have been “impressed” with the quality of candidates.

Parker intended to leave the Group on 31 July, but would continue to be available thereafter to ensure an orderly transition to his successor.

The board said a further announcement would be made in due course.

“I am delighted with the continuing strong growth we have achieved not only in the first six months of the year but also the high levels of contracted revenue underpinning the group's financial performance for the current year and beyond,” said Yu Group chief executive Bobby Kalar.

“This reinforces my belief that there remains significant room for the group's continuing rapid growth.

“I am particularly pleased that we have achieved this growth whilst maintaining the very high levels of customer satisfaction which are so important to the group.”

Kalar noted the company now had the capital base, and had accelerated investment in people and infrastructure to take full advantage of the market opportunity.

“We continue to develop our disruptive brand and reputation with confidence whilst staying aligned to our core business.”

Yu Group said it intended to publish its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 19 September.