US helps Homeserve grow revenues 15%

24th May 2011 13:47

A growing international footprint combined with rising customer numbers in the UK helped home emergency repairs outfit Homeserve drive underlying revenues 15% higher in the year ended 31 March.Underlying revenue - which excludes income from sub-contract engineers (2011: £41.7m, 2010: nil) - grew from £369m to £425.4m, as the number of worldwide customers grew by 14% to 4.9m. UK customber numbers increased by 4% to 3m and are expected to grow by a further 3% in the current year, Homeserve said.The number of policies (on a group basis) jumped 15% to 11.4m.Operations in the US accounted for £52.6m of group revenues, a staggering 105% increase over the year, as its customer base grew from 0.58m to 0.91m. US policy numbers also jumped to 1.39m, from 0.76m.Group pre-tax profit swelled by 16% to £117.1m, from £100.6m, while earnings per share increased to 24p, from 22.9p. "Reflecting our confidence in future prospects and excellent cash generation we have increased the dividend by 17% year on year," said chief executive Richard Harpin. The payout was raised to 10.3p per share, from 8.8p previously.The group is said to be investing in infrastructure, people and test-marketing programmes in new business in Belgium, France and Italy.---BC