Telecom Plus reiterates guidance as annual pre-tax profit rises

In the year to 31 March, the group's pre-tax profits rose 21% year-on-year to £42m, while revenues climbed 10.5% to £729.2m, driven by take up of services the group provides through its Utility Warehouse segment, which reached 2.09m of subscribers by the end of the year, compared to 1.88m in the previous 12 months.

Some 58,753 customers now take up all the five services on offer - gas, electricity, home phone, mobile and broadband - compared to 40,544 a year ago, the FTSE 250 group said on Tuesday.

The company has proposed a final dividend of 21p per share, taking its total dividend for the year to 40p per share, a 14.3% increase year-on-year.

Telecom Plus added it expects adjusted pre-tax profit for the current financial year to be between £54m and £58m, adding that "in the absence of unforeseen circumstances" it intends to increase the dividend by 15% to 46p per share.

"Looking forward we are confident that we will deliver record revenues, profits, and earnings per share for the current year," said group chief executive Andrew Lindsay.

Analysts at FinnCap reiterated their 'buy' rating on the stock and maintained their 1,310p target price.

Telecom Plus shares were up 4.32% to 856.50p at 08:46 on Tuesday.