Telecom Plus to raise full-year dividend on back of customer growth

17th Feb 2014 07:33

- Full-year dividend to be raised- Annual profits expected to be in line- Customers and services grow in Q3Telecom Plus said it will increase its annual dividend by 13 per cent to 35p as the utility services provider is confident of achieving profits in line with market expectations.The company, which supplies gas, electricity, internet and mobile and fixed-line phone services, saw customers grow to 18,429 in the third quarter from 18,439 last year.The number of services provided increased to 81,429 from 55,488.In the past 12 months, the number of services provided to residential members rose by more than 300,000, representing year-on-year growth of 21%.In November, the group introduced its new Gold Bundle package with the proportion of new members taking up core services of gas, electricity, home Phone, broadband and mobile more than doubling to more than 20%.There was also an increase in the proportion of new members choosing to switch their energy services over to Telecom Plus. Opus Energy Group, in which the group has a 20% equity investment, is performing ahead of budget and is on track to deliver record turnover and profits for the current financial year.During the period the company completed the acquisition of Gas Plus Supply and Electricity Plus Supply for £218m. Activity in the distribution channel bounced back strongly during January after a traditional Christmas lull, with the number of new members joining in the month around 25% ahead of the corresponding period last year. "This uplift has been driven by a number of factors including the continuing widespread public focus on the cost of energy bills, a continuing difficult economic climate, record distributor attendance at our nationwide series of motivational seminars held each January, and a strong positive reaction by distributors to our recent promotional activity," the group said. "We are delighted that this momentum has continued into February, which augurs well for our ability to report further strong organic growth for the final quarter in due course." RD