(Alliance News) - Telecom Plus PLC on Wednesday said it is "comfortably on track" to reach over one million customers during its current year, and is performing strongly as the energy market stabilises.

The London-based multi-utility supplier, which trades as Utility Warehouse, said the business continues to perform strongly as stability returns to the energy market.

Telecom Plus said over 62,500 households switched to Utility Warehouse in the half year that ended on September 30, bringing total household customers to 949,180 and representing an over 14% annualised growth rate.

The number of services supplied to customers increased to around 3.0 million during the period, reflecting continued high numbers of new customers electing to use its multiservice products.

Also on Wednesday, Telecom Plus said it updated its existing energy supply contract with Essen, Germany-based electric utility company E.ON SE. It said the revised deal will ensure the partnership's sustainbility over its remaining term ending in December 2033.

Telecom Plus said payments to E.ON for wholesale services are now more closely matched to the wholesale cost components in the price cap, giving it greater flexibility to offer a wider range of products.

"This improved approach is more accurate, reducing risk for both parties, and means both parties now benefit from the full price cap allowances which relate to the activities for which they are each responsible," Telecom Plus explained.

Looking ahead, Telecom Plus anticipates passing "the one million customer milestone" during the financial year ending March 31, and claims to be "comfortably on track" to double its customer base over the medium term. It added that the updated deal with E.ON will help it "take full advantage" of the "significant opportunities" presented by the energy retail market's ongoing transition towards net zero.

Telecom Plus also reaffirmed its guidance for the current fiscal year. In late April it had predicted pretax profit marginally above GBP95 million, up at least 53% from GBP61.9 million the year before, and said it was confident it could deliver double-digit organic customer growth.

Co-Chief Executive Officers Andrew Lindsay and Stuart Burnet commented: "We now have the platform from which we can further build on our current strong rate of growth, and with pressure on household budgets driving ongoing demand for savings, we look forward to welcoming our millionth customer to UW in the coming months."

Telecom Plus shares were up 1.4% at 1,586.32 pence in London on Wednesday morning.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.