Good Energy Group PLC Trading update & pre-AGM investor event (6196C)

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RNS Number : 6196C

Good Energy Group PLC

22 June 2021

Good Energy Group PLC

("Good Energy" or "the Company")

Trading update & pre-AGM investor event

Good Energy Group PLC (AIM: GOOD), the 100% renewable electricity supplier and innovative energy services provider, announces a trading update ahead of its presentation to shareholders at 4:00pm today.

The Company will be holding a closed AGM, on 30 June 2021, in light of the current restrictions on social gatherings and unnecessary travel due to COVID-19.

Current performance

Performance in the year to date has been in line with management expectations, showing a marked improvement compared to the same period in 2020, which was adversely affected by several COVID related factors including the first national lockdown.

Alongside continued strong operational performance in the year to date, there has been a positive benefit to domestic supply gross margins from forward buying power in 2020 in a weaker commodity price environment. Both electricity and gas volumes are higher than comparable periods in 2020, with electricity levels recovering from COVID related impacts in 2020 and gas volumes benefitting from a colder than usual spring.

Operationally, our Business billing system integration is progressing at pace, with 90% of accounts migrated to date. SMART meter rollout continues with 14,000 meters installed to date, of these, 9,000 have been installed in 2021.

The SMART meter rollout will accelerate our digital offering and is a building block for energy services. This platform has provided us with the ability to design multiple new, smart enabled tariffs, which promote further innovation and improves the speed of our product launches. The recently launched Zap flash and Green Driver tariffs, are smart time of use tariffs for electric vehicle drivers and are the first examples of a step towards genuinely smart products including half hourly settlement for domestic customers.

It is anticipated that business performance is returning to more normal seasonal expectations, where first half performance is stronger than second half.

Balance sheet and liquidity

Cash collection to date in 2021 remains in line with seasonal expectations, while direct debit receipts have remained robust and we are managing the expected short term impact of business system migration.

As previously announced, the partial repayment of 70% (GBP11.5m) of Good Energy Bonds II, will be made on 30 June 2021. The repayment will further simplify the capital structure, improve flexibility, and materially reduce financing costs. We intend to continue in this direction, balancing the return on our assets, operating requirements, investment for growth and the resumption of dividend payments.

Zap-Map & product launches

In June, Zap-Map launched a new subscription service for electric vehicle ("EV") drivers, which provides enhanced features and includes in-car support on Apple CarPlay with Android Auto to follow. Early feedback from the rollout of the new service has been positive, with the subscription revenue model being a key value driver for Zap-Map. This new subscription product will become a key service for EV drivers to be included as part of a customer centric bundle for Good Energy customers, alongside energy supply contracts, charging solutions and other EV related services.

Outlook

The Group continues to invest in the development of energy services propositions and a range of innovation projects to drive future profit growth and support the journey to a zero-carbon Britain. Domestic and Business billing platform integrations and SMART meter rollout plans remain on track. Mobility as a Service offering continues to develop solutions for the electrification of transport for Business and Domestic customers, with key partnerships signed and a further investment in Zap-Map committed.

There is a continued focus on delivering profitable returns alongside continued investment in people, processes, and technology to enable customers to take control of their energy usage in the future.

Pre-AGM investor event

Management will give an online presentation to investors on 22 June 2021 at 4pm via the Investor Meet Company ("IMC") platform ahead of the Company's AGM, which is being held on Wednesday 30 June 2021. The presentation, hosted by Chief Executive Nigel Pocklington and CFO Rupert Sanderson, will commence at 4pm and will be followed by an opportunity for Q&A.

The online presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders as well as Good Energy customers. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your IMC dashboard or any time during the live presentation via the "Ask a Question" function. Although the Company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives, it will address the most prominent within the confines of information already disclosed to the market. Responses to the Q&A from the live presentation will be published at the earliest opportunity on the Investor Meet Company platform.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free via:

https://investormeetcompany.com/good-energy-group-plc/register-investor and add Good Energy to attend the presentation. Those investors who have already registered and added to meet the Company will be automatically invited.

Nigel Pocklington, Chief Executive Officer at Good Energy said:

"We are pleased with the performance of the business in the first half of the year to date, particularly in the positive rebound from COVID related impacts last year. We continue to make good progress across the business, both in operational effectiveness and ongoing investments.

In the short time that I have been in post, I have been impressed with the financial and operational robustness of the business. I look forward to providing further strategic updates, later in the year"

Enquiries:

 
 Good Energy Group PLC                      Email: [e-mail] 
  Nigel Pocklington, Chief Executive         Email: [e-mail] 
  Charles Parry, Investor Relations          Phone: [phone] 
  Luke Bigwood, Communications               671003 
 Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser       Tel: [phone] 
  and Joint Broker)                          5970 
  Jeremy Ellis 
  Sara Hale 
  Ben Griffiths 
 Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)   Tel: [phone] 
  Henry Fitzgerald - O'Connor                4617 
  Georgina McCooke 
 

Notes to editors:

About Good Energy www.goodenergy.co.uk

Good Energy is a generator and supplier of 100% renewable power and an innovator in energy services. It currently owns two wind farms, six solar farms and sources electricity from a community of 1,600 independent UK generators.

Since it was founded 20 years ago, the company has been at the forefront of the charge towards a cleaner, distributed energy system. Its mission is to support UK households and businesses generate, store and share clean power.

Good Energy is recognised as a leader in this market, through our green kite accreditation with the London Stock Exchange and as a top rated Green energy supplier by Which?.

About Zap-Map www.zap-map.com/live/

Launched in June 2014, with a mission to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles (EV) and help the drive towards zero carbon mobility, Zap-Map is the UK's leading EV mapping service. The charging point map, available on desktop and iOS/Android apps, helps EV drivers to search for available charge points, plan longer journeys, share updates and pay for charging on participating networks.

In the UK, Zap-Map attracts more than 120,000 cross-platform users per month from a rapidly growing fleet of around 200,000 pure-EVs (Zap-Map's core user group) and 230,000 plug-in hybrids (SMMT: December 2020).

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June 22, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)