Sureserve Group PLC (AIM:SUR) shares rose on Tuesday as the firm reported strong growth in its revenue and profits for full-year 2022 and said the momentum has continued with a good start to trading in 2023.
The social housing and energy services group saw its revenue increase by 27% to £275.1mln for the year ended 30 September 2022 (2021: £216.6mln) while profit before tax jumped 40.5% to £15.6mln (2021: £11.1mln).
The company's full-year 2022 EBITA rose by 36.6% to £16.8mln (2021: £12.3mln) and adjusted basic earnings per share increased by 28.6% to 9.0p (2021: 7.0p). Net cash (excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities) in full-year 2022 increased to £23.3mln (2021: £16.4mln).
Surserve said its order book rose by 18% in 2022 to £593.5mln (2021: £502.9mln) and the company noted that its current order book provides good visibility of revenue streams with 79% of full-year 2023 (FY23) expected revenue covered by the order book at the start of the financial year.
The company said it has mitigated the effects of inflationary cost pressures, demonstrating the resilience of its business model, and its board remains confident in the outlook for FY23.
In the results statement, Peter Smith, chief executive officer of Sureserve, commented: "Last year we stated our ambition to be the UK's leading social housing energy services provider. We remain focused on pursuing a strategy of both organic growth and acquisitions to increase our presence in the gas heating and renewables sectors, and our acquisition of CorEnergy has proven to be a successful addition to our renewables expertise.
"In a fragmented market, our defined strategy supports our ambitions to be a leading social housing energy services provider delivering projects that matter at the forefront of the UK energy transition.
"The group's experienced management teams are well placed to support our clients through the energy transition, and deliver against our ambition to double our sales and further improve net margins and earnings per share within the next four years."
In early morning trading, Sureserve shares in London were 4.1% higher at 88p in reaction to the numbers.
In a comment, Neil Shah, director of research at Edison Group, said: "A robust YoY performance reflects Sureserve’s ongoing priorities to cement its position at the forefront of energy transition in the UK with an established presence in the renewables sector – efforts which have been bolstered sustained growth efforts in its gas-heating arm."
"Against the backdrop of a global energy crisis and a global trajectory towards sustainable energy sources, Sureserve’s strategy of balancing both renewables and gas makes sense. Sureserve’s final results demonstrate a good trading performance in the face of strong economic and geopolitical headwinds, where a strong order book will set them in good stead to deliver on growth targets," Shah added.
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