quotedcleantech

Smart meter installer Bglobal is already enjoying the benefits of its June acquisition of software company Utiligroup.

AIM-quoted Bglobal paid an initial £5.3 million in cash and shares for Utiligroup and it was a major factor behind Bglobal’s move into profit in the six months to September 2010. And this is the first time Bglobal has made a profit. Stripping out amortisation and the £194,000 of acquisition costs expensed in the period, Bglobal swung from a loss of £481,000 to a profit of £1.4 million.

Even though Bglobal’s core meter installation business was installing enough meters to reach profitability by itself, Utiligroup generated at least as much of the operating profit in the three months that the business was included in the figures.

Utiligroup made a gain of £253,000 on the sale of a shell company that has regulatory approvals to be an electricity supplier to Co-op Energy. Utiligroup has set up two further shell energy supply companies and intends to sell these whilst setting up others. Management expects this to be a regular source of income.

Bglobal installed 32,000 meters during the first half against 17,000 in the same period last year, when the business was still making a significant loss. Overall revenues grew from £5.8 million to £12.5 million, with £2 million of the additional revenues coming from Utiligroup.

There is a potential deferred consideration for Utiligroup of £2.8 million. The inclusion of this consideration among the group’s debt means that Bglobal still had net cash of £777,000 at the end of September 2010. Since then a further £2.8 million of cash has been generated as customers have paid for meters after the end of the financial period.