Homeserve sees revenue rise by double digit margin
Home repairs firm Homeserve saw its revenue increase by a double digit margin in the last financial year, saying its prospects remained strong despite the coronavirus crisis.
The FTSE 250 firm added that it had not seen a big increase in cancellations due to the disease, but had stopped its large marketing campaigns as a precaution.
Shares in the company rose 2.4 per cent this morning.
The figures
Revenue at Homeserve increased 13 per cent to £1.1bn, up from £1bn the year before.
Pre-tax profit slipped by a tiny margin from £140m to £138m.
Net debt rose by over two-thirds to £509m, up from £304.7m in the previous year.
Customer numbers crept up one per cent to 8.3m, driven by the firm’s North American customer base expanding to 4.4m.
The firm boosted its dividend 10 per cent across the year, rising from 21.4p to 23.6p.
Why it’s interesting
In a statement, Homeserve said that it expected a “solid” performance in the new financial year, despite the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
The firm has been resolute throughout the lockdown period, continuing to complete emergency repairs for customers in all of its operating territories.
Unlike many companies, it has also not furloughed any of its staff and will not make redundancies due to the crisis.
It is currently offering free repairs for NHS staff and other key social care workers, and has carried out over 2,000 such repairs so far.
What Homeserve said
The firm’s founder and chief executive Richard Harpin said: “I am really pleased with our performance in the last 12 months, in which we continued to provide excellent service to our customers, deliver on our financial objectives and invest for future growth.
“I am especially proud of how everyone at HomeServe responded to the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19, adapting quickly and efficiently to new ways of working and going beyond the call of duty to help our customers.