Telecom Plus PLC (LSE:TEP) said profits will come in at the bottom end of guidance due to lower energy usage during a warm winter, sending shares down 11% to 1,251p in early trading.
The operator of the Utility Warehouse household bill-bundling platform had previously guided to an adjusted pre-tax profit of £132 million to £138 million for the 2026 financial year.
Customer growth remained strong, with total numbers rising 23.3% to 1.43 million, boosted by the acquisition of 193,000 broadband customers from TalkTalk. Organic growth was 10.3%.
However, competition in energy and broadband weighed on service growth and pushed churn up to 14.2% from 13.7%. Energy services rose 1.8%, while insurance declined 8.3%.
Cross-selling to TalkTalk customers is progressing, with 14,500 upgrades completed so far.
The company said it will review its shareholder distribution policy, maintaining a payout ratio of at least 80% but splitting returns between dividends and buybacks.
Looking ahead, Telecom Plus said it remains focused on increasing services per customer and reducing churn, while targeting growth to two million households over the medium term.
House broker Peel Hunt said it assumed the new guidance would result in "around a 2% cut" to earnings per share.