Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Nada666

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

Neither do nPower charge £4.90 plus vat standing charge per month, it's £7 a year with nPower.

Nonsense. That is with a direct debit discount applied.

£61.74 versus about £49. Of course npower may be cheaper for you and you choose whichever tariff suits. You do know that npower have some of the highest dual fuel standing charges of any supplier? If you are paying £7 a year then that is only because some schmucks are paying more than £200 for their gas.

(And I am absolutely not a fan of the tawdry company that is the subject of this thread.)

(£4.90 plus VAT is about 6 or 7% below the typical charge)

Nada666

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

UW are a joke if you are an Economy 7 electricity customer, they have just increased the cost of off peak electricity (in the Yorkshire area) by 32%. They claim "we guarantee you will save money compared to the average of the cheapest variable tariffs available from the 'Big 6' suppliers". Averages are meaningless.

Yesterday I moved back to nPower. It's no contest, nPower on their fixed price deal until April 2015 are way cheaper.

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james000_2

I just wanted to share my experience of Utility Warehouse, and this seemed a good place to do it.

I have been a customer for over a year and in that time whenever I have not supplied gas and electricity meter readings they have made wild overestimates of my consumption significantly increasing the price of my bill. Each time this has happened I have had to phone up, suspend my direct debit and wait until the next month for an adjusted bill to be issued. The cost of these calls from a mobile have also been significant.

When I eventually moved house and was able to close my Utility Warehouse account, I received a bill with both substantial overestimates and bogus meter readings on the same day as the estimate. These appeared on the bill as "Meter reader's Meter readings" and were higher than both the estimates and the readings that I had taken myself on the same day. I can only assume that these had been automatically generated by Utility Warehouse to further increase the cost of the bill for unwitting customers.

Hopefully this can be a warning to anyone thinking of joining Utility Warehouse!

Jamie

MillicentBystander

Interesting development :eek::D

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/20/us-telecomplus-acquisition-idUSBRE9AJ0D020131120

Telecom Plus to buy two energy units from RWE Npower for $351 million

Wed Nov 20, 2013 3:25am EST

(Reuters) - British multi-utility provider Telecom Plus Plc (TEP.L) said it had agreed to buy two energy supply units of RWE Npower for 218 million pounds ($351 million), in a bid to improve energy margins and offer more competitive tariffs.
Telecom Plus' stock jumped more than 13 percent, making it the second biggest percentage gainer on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.
The deal also ensures a 20-year supply contract with the British arm of German utility RWE AG (RWEG.DE), said Telecom Plus, which provides gas, electricity, fixed-line telephone and broadband internet services.
The company, which owns and operates the Utility Warehouse brand, said it would raise about 130 million pounds in share placings, fully underwritten by Peel Hunt.
Telecom Plus said the purchase of Electricity Plus and Gas Plus would be financed through a combination of the share placements and about 100 million pounds from loan facilities.
The acquisitions are expected to materially increase earnings within a year of completion. The deal is expected to close by late December, the company said.
Telecom Plus also posted a 10 percent rise in first-half adjusted pretax profit and raised its interim dividend by 23 percent.
Shares in Telecom Plus Were up 13.5 percent at 1710 pence at 0820 GMT (3:20 EDT).
($1 = 0.6210 British pounds)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/20/us-telecomplus-acquisition-idUSBRE9AJ0D020131120

Could it be the Big 7 soon?

NigeWick

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Interesting development

Will be if they can become competitive on gas and electricity prices. I wish I'd bought shares when I was tempted at 90p several years ago.

MillicentBystander

NigeWick wrote: »

Will be if they can become competitive on gas and electricity prices. I wish I'd bought shares when I was tempted at 90p several years ago.

I'm sure it's going to very much help in that respect.

Financial effects of the Acquisition
- Following completion of the Acquisition, the gross margin that the Group earns from supplying energy to the Group's customers will immediately increase by 4.25 per cent. and Npower will assume responsibility for certain metering costs currently borne by the Company
- On a pro forma basis, this would have delivered incremental gross profit to the Group of approximately GBP21.9 million for the year ended 31 March 2013 which, after interest costs and investment by the Group in lower energy tariffs, would have generated approximately GBP9.3m of incremental pro forma adjusted pre-tax profit in that year
- The Acquisition is expected to be materially earnings enhancing to the Group's earnings per share in the first full financial year following completion of the Acquisition, excluding any amortisation relating to intangible assets recognised as a result of the Acquisition(1)......


Charles Wigoder, Executive Chairman of Telecom Plus, commented:
"This is a transformational deal for the Company, delivering significant earnings enhancement, a revised and improved 20 year supply agreement with Npower and the opportunity for us to provide even more competitive energy prices to our customers in future. The combination of these will play a major role in helping us to accelerate our current rate of high quality organic growth and to achieve our goal of supplying our unique, multi-utility proposition to more than one million customers over the medium term."
Paul Massara, CEO of RWE npower, said,
"In one move we have helped to create the biggest independent competitor in Britain's household energy supply market. This is good for competition and good for consumer choice. Today's announcement shows that Britain is well on the way to having a Big 7 rather than a Big 6.
"Both Electricity Plus and Gas Plus have expanded substantially over recent years and we are pleased to be able to provide long term support for an entrant which now has more than 770,000 customer accounts nationwide. This shows that there is a willingness to compete in Britain's energy market, and that the market is anything but broken.
"This is good news for Utility Warehouse customers, for npower, and for the energy industry."

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20131120-700984.html?dsk=y

Cardew

NigeWick wrote: »

Will be if they can become competitive on gas and electricity prices.

Quote = Millicent Bystander.
I'm sure it's going to very much help in that respect.

Just had to keep those statements for posterity!

So the TVG and Double Gold Guarantee are????

MillicentBystander

Still no word on the big news, Cards? Speaks volumes....

PS still overpaying for your telephone/broadband. I guess?

Still no cash back card?

What a money saver you are, eh?

MillicentBystander

Usual diversionary post imminent?

Nada666

MillicentBystander wrote: »

PS still overpaying for your telephone/broadband. I guess?

Can't see anything special about their broadband offer - below standard, if anything. ADSL2 is not unlimited in 2013. Prices (those that I can find) similar to everywhere else.