A SCOTTISH smart metering company has hailed a “transformational year” for the business in 2020 as it reported profits ahead of market expectations.
Smart Metering Systems, which installs and manages smart meters on behalf of energy companies, posted a rise in statutory pre-tax profits to £195 million from £5.5m and said it is well placed to take advantage of the move towards net zero.
The Glasgow-based businessreported that its ILARR, the revenue generated from meter rental and data contracts at a point in time and including revenue from third-party managed meters, was up six per cent to £77m against £72.6m in 2019.
This was despite the temporary suspension of all non-essential site work between March 24 and June 1 in response to the pandemic, it said.
The Aim-listed firm declared a 25p per share dividend with the intention to increase by 10% per annum until 2024.
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Alan Foy, SMS chief executive, said 2020 was a “transformational year for SMS, from which we have emerged a stronger, leaner organisation with a reinforced commitment to our customers, the environment and our people”.
He said: “We have delivered financial results ahead of market expectations in an unprecedented year, demonstrating the strength of our business model.
"Since the end of the year we have won new meter contracts, secured rights to an additional 100MW of grid-scale battery storage projects and purchased an I&C portfolio that will benefit from our end-to-end industry systems.”
He noted: “These achievements are testament to SMS's ability to leverage its well-established platform and infrastructure, and to support continuing growth, with significant additional opportunities in CaRe assets.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the urgency to decarbonise, decentralise and digitalise the UK's energy systems. For over 25 years SMS has played a pivotal role in UK energy and is now well positioned to transform the economy towards net zero. SMS itself has committed to achieving 'net-zero' carbon emissions by 2030, two decades ahead of the UK's own 'net-zero' target.” Shares closed at 761p, up 0.93%, or 7p.
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