Telecom Plus profit jumps 34%, hikes divi

20th May 2009 07:33

Utility services provider Telecom Plus racked up a 34% rise in annual pre-tax profit but warned this year's profit is likely to be lower on the back of reduced interest rates, energy margins and a rise in costs.Profit before tax rose to £22.5m for the year ended 31 March 2009 from £16.8m the previous year on turnover of £278.3m, up 49% from last time.The final dividend has been increased to 12.5p per share from 10p the last time."This reflects our confidence in a continuation of the current rapid growth we are seeing in both new services and new customers, which can be expected to provide the Company with a platform from which to deliver significantly higher profits in future years," said Telecom Plus in a company statement.However looking ahead to this year's profit the group explained that it will be "adversely affected by a number of other factors, namely: a reduction in our financial income of around £1.5m compared with last year as a result of the sharp fall in interest rates; slightly lower energy margins...additional fixed costs associated with our new headquarters office building; and an increase in bad debts.""For these reasons, we believe at this stage it is unlikely our profits for the current year will match the record figure for last year."