HomeServe CEO says making it into the FTSE 100 was ‘only the beginning’ as company raises interim dividend

Home repairs and improvements company HomeServe today raised its dividend as it forecast tidy underlying profits from locked-down Britons fixing up their houses.

The company, which made its debut on the FTSE 100 in March, runs the Checkatrade website, which provides an online directory of recommended tradespeople, and has a service that guarantees to come round to your house and fix your boiler, heating or plumbing, in return for a monthly premium.

It saw revenues of £536.7 million in the six months to September 30, up 17% on the same period in 2019.

Adjusted pre-tax profit was up 16% at £33.1 million, with statutory pre-tax profit down 49% to £10.1 million, a figure the company said reflected a one-off gain in the results last year when it sold its Italian operations.

The company is to issue an interim dividend of 6.2p per share, up 7% on the prior half year.

Chief executive Richard Harpin, who founded the Walsall-based business 27 years ago, said that "based on what we see today, we are confident of delivering a healthy mix of organic and acquired revenue growth at the full year, with profits ahead of our prior expectations.”

Harpin told the Standard the company had made no redundancies or use of the furlough scheme since the pandemic broke out, and recently recruited 100 workers.  

HomeServe saw US profits up 73% in the period.

It signed a deal with Belgium’s third largest utilities company Eneco, launched an expansion into Canada, and is preparing to launch into the Portuguese market following the acquisition of Spanish claims handling business, Mesos.