HomeServe fixes up profit of £26.2m for 2015 half year results as customer numbers continue to rise
HomeServe this morning revealed adjusted profit before tax of £26.2m for the six months ended 30 September 2015, up less than one per cent from £26m for the same period last year.
However, adjusted profit before tax on a constant currency basis would have been £28m, an increase of eight per cent.
Net debt for the company also shot up, going from £75.8m in the six months ended September 2014, to £202.2m in this most recent set of results.
The emergency home cover company now serves 2.1m customers in the UK, thanks in part to increased marketing activity. The business also recently bought a heating firm with more than 150 engineers to help improve its delivery of gas-related services.
Richard Harpin, chief executive, HomeServe, highlighted that customer growth had been strong globally, with customer numbers up 24 per cent in the USA. The business now has 6.6m customers in total.
Harpin added: “We remain confident in our expectations of good growth for the full year.”
However, share price dropped sharply after the results were released, reaching a low of 410p, down 2.3 per cent of a previous close of 419.8p, shortly before midday.
Aviva revealed it had signed a five-year underwriting deal with Homeserve in the insurer's third-quarter 2015 results, announced at the end of last month.