Homeserve half year profits fall despite higher revenue, customer numbers

17th Nov 2015 08:43

(ShareCast News) - Interim pre-tax profits fell at domestic maintenance firm Homeserve despite a rise in revenues and customer numbers.Pretax profit fell to £21.3m against £25.3m in the same period last time. Revenues rose to £262.3m from £241.7m.Total operating costs were £102.9m, 4% higher than the prior period, reflecting the increase in the number of repairs completed and a higher depreciation charge, in part offset by lower indirect costs, Homeserve said.Customer numbers across all of the company's markets rose to 12% to 6.6m. Chief executive Roger Harpin said more than two-thirds of Homeserve's clients are now based outside the UK."In addition to delivering good customer service, the UK business has increased gas service delivery capability with the recent acquisition of a heating business based in Nottingham with over 150 gas engineers," Harpin said."We are also delighted that our new partnership with Lyonnaise des Eaux in France has had a strong start. In the USA, customer numbers are up 24% and we continue to see excellent growth prospects as we signed a further six new partners, now serving 31m households.""We remain confident in our expectations of good growth for the full year."