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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

Revenue surges as losses slashed at smart meter group poised for £1.43bn takeover

A Manchester-based smart meter group, which is poised for a £1.43bn takeover, grew revenue and slashed its pre-tax losses during its most recent financial year.

Calisen has posted a revenue of £248.1m for the 12 months to December 31, 2020, up more than 18% from £208.8m in 2019.

The listed company's pre-tax losses were cut by nearly 80% in the year from £82.2m to £17.2m.

The new figures come after confirmed an offer in December 2020 from global consortium Coyote Bidco which would see current shareholders receive 261p per share.

The energy infrastructure firm , whose headquarters are based on Marsden Street, employs more than 1,700 members of staff and only listed on the London Stock Exchange in February 2020.

Bidco consists of investors including Goldman Sachs, Blackrock and Mubadala Investment, a fund owned by the Abu Dhabi state.

Calisen's operations consist of two businesses. Calvin Capital - a firm procuring, owning and managing a portfolio of domestic electricity and gas meters, and Lowri Beck - a firm carrying out meter readings and maintenance on behalf of its energy retailer customers.

On the latest results, chief executive Bert Pijls said: "2020 was undoubtedly challenging but I'm pleased to say that the group ended the year in a stronger position than it had been in at its start.

"We succeeded in growing our smart meter pipeline by a further 1.5 million meters, meaning that our expected 2025 portfolio grew by 12.8%.

"We also increased the proportion of our meters which benefit from early removal protection, we refinanced approximately £1.1bn of existing meter funding facilities, achieving a lower cost of debt than the facilities they replaced, and we took our first steps into the adjacent asset class of EV charging points.

"In addition, in early December we announced the acquisition and, subject to completion, we look forward to making further progress under new ownership. Finally, in late December the UK and EU reached agreement on a zero tariff Trade and Cooperation Agreement which means no change to the economics of meter procurement from the Single Market of the EU."

He added: "We have substantial embedded growth in our meter pipeline which has been contracted but not yet implemented and there are exciting longer-term opportunities internationally and in adjacent asset classes, most immediately in EV charging. In 2021, our focus for metering will therefore be on getting as many meters as possible installed as quickly as possible, while in adjacencies, we will focus on pilot schemes in EV charging to learn as much as we can about those assets and how they perform ahead of committing to any larger-scale projects.

"Overall, we remain well placed to achieve our purpose of accelerating the development of a cleaner, more efficient and sustainable energy segment."

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