Meter slowdown will hit performance, says Bglobal

SMART metering firm Bglobal has warned that a slowdown in meter installations will “significantly impact” on next year’s figures.

In a trading update for the year to March the Darwen-based firm said some customers were holding back after learning that the Government will not push the mass rollout of smart meters in residential and small business addresses until 2014, later than expected.

In response the company said it would strip out £1m of annual costs but did not say if this would mean job cuts or more efficient ways of working.

It said: “In light of this the board is revising its installation expectations for the current financial year downwards and this will significantly impact on Bglobal Metering’s contribution to group performance in FY [full year] 12.”

It added: “Alongside this constant monitoring of the cost base, the group will look to further develop new revenue streams and has already made good progress in the half-hourly market introducing a competitively priced solution that a number of customers have already contracted to receive.”

Bglobal installed 66,000 meters during the year. It said turnover was broadly in line with expectations mainly because sales from its data collection and aggregation services grew by 75%. Overall the business was profitable and cash generative and “performed slightly ahead of market expectations”.

Group chief executive Tim Jackson-Smith said: “Whilst the recent announcement from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has provided certainty in some areas there are still a lot of issues that need to be clarified over the course of the next 12 months and this will inevitably lead to a reduction in the pace of the rollout of smart meters.

“However, what is clear is that the mix of products and services that the group is able to provide means it is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that the mass rollout of smart meters will bring and the board is actively positioning the group to derive maximum benefit from whichever regulatory system is put in place for the residential rollout programme.”