Homeserve FY profit rises

25th May 2010 07:15

Home maintenance specialist Homeserve posted a 13% increase in full year pre-tax profit driven by the strong performance at its UK and international operations.The group, which insures households against broken boilers and burst water pipes, said the new financial year has started positively with all of its membership businesses performing in line with company expectations.Profit before tax advanced to £100.6m for the year ended 31 March 2010 from £88.7m the same time a year before. Revenue for the period increased 21% to £369.0m.Policies increased to 10.3m policies from 9.2m in 2009 and customers increased to 4.7m in 2010 from 4.3m the previous year.HomeServe said it remains well positioned for the future and looks forward to another year of strong growth. The group, which exited from UK Emergency Services, resulting in loss of £42.0m in discontinued operations, posted a 3% rise in customer growth in the UK and a retention rate of 82.5% compared to 83.0% in 2009. International operating profits rose sharply to £8.7m from £5.1m the year earlier.Revenues increased 31% at its European business over the year while in the US revenue increased 41% and policies grew 38%. Underlining confidence in future trading Homeserve increased its total dividend by nearly a quarter to 44.0p.