Shareholding in Oxford Power

RNS Number : 5218V

Telecom Plus PLC

13 July 2009

 

Telecom plus PLC (the 'Company')

Re: Shareholding in Oxford Power Holdings Limited ('Opus Energy')

Telecom plus PLC, (trading as the Utility Warehouse), which supplies a wide range of utility services (gas, electricity, fixed line telephony, mobile telephony and broadband internet) to both residential and business customers, is pleased to announce that the call option, under which International Power plc had the right to increase its shareholding in Opus Energy from 30% to 100% (by acquiring the 20% held by Telecom plus PLC and the 50% held by the management), has expired. 

Opus Energy continues to perform strongly and in line with management expectations, and its profits for the first quarter of the current year (to 30 June 2009) are significantly ahead of the corresponding period last year. We expect Opus to pay a final dividend shortly in respect of its previous financial year of around £2 per share; this would equate to a cash receipt of £700,000 by Telecom plus PLC in relation to our 20% shareholding in Opus Energy.

Opus Energy expects International Power to retain its substantial shareholding in the company for the foreseeable future.

Commenting on this news, Charles Wigoder (Chief Executive of Telecom plus PLC) said:

'We believe the growth opportunity and future prospects for Opus Energy in supplying commercial energy, complement those available to Telecom plus in our core business supplying the residential market, and we are delighted to retain the opportunity of benefiting from its future success.'

For more information please contact:

Telecom plus PLC

Chris Houghton, Finance Director                 020 8955 5000

About Telecom plus PLC:

Telecom plus, which owns and operates the Utility Warehouse brand, is the UK's only fully integrated provider of a wide range of competitively priced utility services spanning both the Communications and Energy markets.

Customers benefit from the convenience of a single monthly bill, consistently good value across all their utilities and exceptional levels of customer service. The

Company does not advertise, relying instead on 'word of mouth' recommendation by existing satisfied customers in order to grow their market share.

Telecom plus is listed on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: TEP LN). For further information please visit: www.telecomplus.co.uk.

 

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