Bglobal plc (AIM:BGBL) the leading provider of smart metering solutions and energy data services to the UK energy market is pleased to provide an update on its trading performance for the six months ended 30 September 2009 in advance of its interim results which are to be announced in late November.
Installations
Orders for smart meter installations from the Group’s major utility customers have increased significantly in the second quarter (following the resolution of meter asset funding difficulties towards the end of the first quarter) leading to an acceleration of installation activity. This has resulted in the Group beating its target for September and installing 3,993 meters in the month, hitting a peak installation rate of 224 meters per day. The total number of billed meters for the six months to 30 September is 17,666.
New Contracts
During the period the Company has secured several new orders from both the large UK utilities and through direct sales to both SME and large businesses. In September the Company signed a framework agreement to deliver smart metering services to Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Limited (“GM&TR”), the UK retail arm of the Russian energy company Gazprom, which has recently entered the UK electricity market. The contract will see Bglobal supply and install its latest generation of smart electricity meters to GM&TR’s growing base of UK business customers.
New direct sales customers include Superdrug, the UK’s second-largest beauty and health retailer. Bglobal will install smart meters at all of its UK stores, totaling more than 900 sites, which will help them to precisely monitor energy usage, enabling them to effectively manage overall consumption and control costs. Other orders have been placed by organisations including Yorkshire Building Society, Marriott Hotels International and high street retailer Schuh.
New Technology and Innovation
Bglobal has commenced manufacture of the Smart1, a revolutionary new design of smart meter built specifically for UK SME and residential customers. The Smart1 will be sold exclusively by Bglobal in the UK and we aim to begin installing the Smart1 meter early next year. Bglobal has selected manufacturing partners in China and South East Asia to exclusively produce the product to the Company’s own design. The Company has received the first finished batch of the new meters which are currently going through formal industry compliance testing.
Bglobal believes that the innovative features of the Smart1 will be a source of competitive advantage for our customers and ourselves as the SME and mass residential smart meter markets open up.
Financing Position
On 3rd July the Company announced that it had secured up to £15million from Barclays Asset & Sales Finance, through a third party, to provide ongoing lease finance arrangements to customers buying Bglobal’s smart meter services which include supply, installation, maintenance and data provision. A finance facility provided by Macquarie Bank of Australia has remained in place since September 2006 and Bglobal continues to place business with both funders. We are grateful for the continued support of these funders which has enabled the Company to quicken the pace of installs for major utility customers including Npower, Scottish and Southern and British Gas Business. Sizable orders placed by customers in the second quarter of this year clearly demonstrate a commitment to Bglobal’s smart metering products and to the financial solutions provided by our funding partners.
Outlook
Bglobal is in detailed discussions with major utility customers with regard to increasing the pace of installation on a monthly basis for those customers. Several large orders for installation have been received in the second quarter and we expect sizable installation order batches to follow in the near future at which point further information will be announced to the market. With approximately 4,000 meters installed in September it is encouraging to note that a similar pace is continuing in October and that the order book for the rest of this financial year is very positive. The board looks forward to updating shareholders on continued progress at the time of the interim results in late November.
Commenting on the performance, Group Chief Executive Tony Barnes, said: “Smart metering is now very clearly delivering substantial business value and cost saving benefits to our energy supply customers and to the UK business sector in general. Consequently, orders from major customers have increased in the second quarter of the financial year.”
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