Good work

Good Energy has announced encouraging results for the year ending 31 December 2008, but has warned of difficult times ahead.

The Wiltshire-based renewable-electricity supplier said that it had increased its home generator customers (where the company buys the output from domestic generation facilities) from 320 to 462 following the launch of its online Good Energy Shop. However, owing to a deterioration in the market, the group lost a total of 3,632 customers, ending the year with 25,232, compared with 23,770 in 2007.

Profit before tax stands at £509,022, down from £545,269 in 2007, and earnings per share were also lower at GBP0.04 from GBP0.068. However, turnover was up to £17.7m, representing a 37 per cent increase from the year earlier.

Sales of electricity were up 14 per cent, largely as a result of an increased proportion of business customers, as well as lower average temperatures in the summer of 2008. The results were also buoyed by approval to repower the Good Energy wind farm in Delabole, Cornwall. When it is built, the plant will generate around 27GWh per annum, which Good Energy claims would have been equivalent to 20 per cent of its purchases at 2008 volumes.

Looking ahead, the group remains cautious about its short-term forecast for its electricity customer base, but said that decreasing energy prices and soon-to-be-announced guidelines on green accreditation place it in a strong position for the medium term. So far in 2009, the group’s results have been described as ‘satisfactory’, following a decrease in direct costs and higher-than-planned volumes.

John Sellers, chairman of Good Energy, said: ‘Against a backdrop of difficult economic times, I am pleased to announce that Good Energy remains well positioned to develop the group businesses and grow profitably in the year ahead. There is no change to our strategy and our ambition to be the UK’s most trusted supplier of renewable electricity and associated products and services for a low-carbon lifestyle will remain a top priority for the year ahead.

‘We will also be focusing on increasing Good Energy’s generating capacity following the positive news from North Cornwall District Council that our application to repower our wind farm at Delabole has been approved. This is excellent news for Good Energy and will add significant shareholder value. Funding this project will be an exciting challenge and one we look forward to embarking on,’ he added.