Pre-tax profits at IEG, which owns Jersey Gas and is headed by CI Traders chairman Tom Scott, rose by 17 per cent to £9m in the half-year to 30 June while overall turnover also rose by 17 per cent to £31.
m.
Operating profit rose by eight per cent to a record £7.
m.
ut the warm weather and the high cost of liquefied petroleum gas have been blamed for a modest profit increase of just three per cent, from £5.
m to £6m, from IEG’s Channel Islands and Isle of Man businesses.
Star performers in the IEG stable include its natural gas transportation business in the UK, which saw profits increased by 46 per cent to £1.
m, and the group’s Portuguese LPG business, which saw its profits rise from £1.
m to £1.
m.
K turnover rose by 31 per cent, reflecting an extra 10,500 homes being connected to gas over the period.
A total of 47,500 customers now receive LPG from IEG in Portugal and the firm has contracts for another 14,000 connections.
EG has its base in Guernsey and its portfolio includes Jersey Gas, which it acquired in 1992, Manx Gas, Guernsey Gas and the Gas Transportation Company, which operates out of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.
Its principal activity is the transportation and distribution of gas to domestic, commercial and horticultural consumers in the Crown dependencies as well as Portugal and the UK.
he firm obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange in June 1995 and three years later it became the first commercial member to be admitted to the Channel Islands Stock Exchange.
Last year IEG announced that it was in negotiations to acquire an energy business in Italy.
‘The group continues to strengthen its position with expansion of its existing businesses and has a secure platform with negligible debt from which to expand further by both organic growth and by actively seeking acquisitions,’ said Mr Scott.
I am most happy with the group’s half-year results, particularly in the light of adverse trading conditions, and I remain confident of continued growth.
There is likely to be continued volatility in LPG costs in the future, but IEG has again demonstrated its ability to manage these costs and maintain margins.
There are further opportunities for good long-term organic growth with recurring income in the businesses in the UK, Portugal and the Isle of Man, which can be supported by the strong cash generation of the group.
Earnings per share rose by 23 per cent to 9.
p.
The 3.
25p interim dividend is a ten per cent rise on last year.
