HomeServe: Checkatrade owner in the red despite sales passing £1bn
HomeServe, the domestic repair and emergency services giant, fell into the red despite its sales surging to more than £1bn last year, it has been revealed.
The Walsall-headquartered business has posted a revenue of £1.1bn for 2024 while it reported a pre-tax loss of £31.7m.
The figures compare to the revenue of £774m and pre-tax profit of £87.9m it achieved for the nine months to the end of 2023.
HomeServe’s financial year was changed when it was acquired by a Canadian alternative investment group in 2022.
For the last time HomeServe reported figures for a 12-month period, the year to 31 March, 2023, the business achieved a revenue of £976.3m and a pre-tax loss of £50.4m.
The new accounts filed with Companies House are the second after HomeServe was takeover by Brookfield Asset Management in a deal which valued it at £4.1bn.
The business had been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2004 and was a member of the FTSE 250 index.
HomeServe was founded by Richard Harpin as a joint venture with South Staffordshire Water in 1993.
The takeover deal netted Harpin – who stepped down as chairman in January this year – and his wife almost £500m.
Checkatrade forms part of the HomeServe group after being acquired in 2019.
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Spanish floods and French elections impact HomeServe
In a statement signed off by the board, HomeServe said: “Operating profit reduced to £3.4m in the year, reflecting softer trading in certain markets and the impact of a full 12-month reporting period.
“The period-on-period fluctuation was primarily driven by one-off challenging conditions in France and Spain, alongside the full-year impact of FY23 M&A, particularly the acquisition of Boxt.
“In France the temporary impact of legislative uncertainty drove a 22 per cent deterioration in operating performance on a like-for-like basis.
“This was principally driven by certain HVAC businesses as approvals for government subsidies projects ceased around the 2024 elections.
“In addition the adverse impact of one-off flooding events reduced the ability of our Spanish claims business to operate during Q4 in the Valencian community and surrounding areas causing overall Spanish operating results for the year to be restricted to two per cent growth on a like-for-like basis.”
HomeServe added that there was also an increase in the level of one-off impairments by £49.1m to £56.9m following the decision not to invest further in Habitissimo.