HomeServe plc (LON:HSV), the international home repairs and improvements business, today publishes the following update in respect of its financial year ended 31 March 2019.
Trading update
HomeServe has had another very good year, with adjusted profit before tax (PBT) expected to be at the upper end of market expectations¹ and significantly ahead of the £141.7m delivered in FY18.
In the Membership business, North America reached the milestone of 4.0m customers (March 2018: 3.6m) as the business continued to grow strongly. In the UK, customer numbers were 2.0m (March 2018: 2.2m), reflecting continued good retention but no policy book acquisitions in FY19. In Spain, customers reduced to 1.1m (March 2018: 1.3m) following the end of the affinity partnership with Endesa, as previously announced. In France, customer numbers saw a small increase and were 1.1m (March 2018: 1.1m) and a new partnership was signed with Saur, the third largest water utility. The Group retention rate remained strong at 82% and across all geographies, HomeServe’s focus on delivering additional products to those customers who value its services drove increases in net income per customer.
In Home Experts, HomeServe’s online trades marketplace, revenue at Checkatrade increased by over 30% and trades recruitment grew strongly. Consumer web visits also increased and a new management team with experience in fast growing digital businesses is now in place to drive the business forward in FY20 and beyond.
Net debt at 31 March 2019 was c.1.5x EBITDA, well within the Group’s target leverage range of 1.0 to 2.0x.
Further detail on progress with all of the Group’s business lines will be provided in HomeServe’s preliminary results on 21 May 2019.
Investor Day
HomeServe will hold an Investor Day at Checkatrade’s headquarters in Portsmouth on Thursday 20 June 2019. Further details will be communicated shortly.
¹ Estimates for adjusted profit before tax range from £159.5m to £161.7m with a mean average of £160.6m. Adjusted PBT excludes the impact of the amortisation of acquisition intangible assets.
