LONDON -- British utility supplier Telecom Plus (TEP +1.54%) today reported that full-year profit jumped nearly 13%, driven by a growing customer base and a higher average revenue per customer.
Telecom Plus, which provides gas, electricity, fixed-line telephone and broadband Internet services, reported pre-tax profit of 34.6 million pounds ($52.66 million) for the year ended March 31, compared with 30.7 million pounds for the prior year. Total revenue was up 27.6% from 2012 numbers, topping 601.5 million pounds.
The company also announced the full-year dividend was set to increase 14.8% to 31 pence per share.
Chief executive Andrew Lindsay commented: "The quality of our customer base has continued to improve, with over 55% of new members applying for at least four core services during the year. This has resulted in lower churn, lower bad debts and higher average revenue per customer."
Telecom Plus now boasts a customer base of more than 461,000, up from 415,000 in the prior year. Average revenue per customer increased 14.5% to 1,363 pounds.
In April, the company announced its seventh consecutive quarter in which service numbers have grown by more than 50,000. In the past 12 months alone, shareholders have no doubt benefited from this superb growth -- shares are up about 80% since May of 2012 (versus a 30% rise in the FTSE All-Share index).
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