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Yu Group shares collapse as UK energy firm announce £10 million loss


Yü Group shares collapse by 80% after small energy supplier reveals £10m hit as payments fail to come in

  • Shares plunged from 580p at Tuesday’s close to 122p on Wednesday morning
  • Company says deficit will lead to annual loss for this financial year
  • Yü expects to return to profitability in 2019

Tommaso Fiore For Thisismoney.co.uk

The listed energy minnow Yü Group saw its shares plummet by 80 per cent today after it announced a punitive £10million hit from accounting irregularities.

Yü said there was ‘significant concern’ over higher levels of trade debt and the fact that payments coming in from energy used by customers last year and this turned out lower than had been expected.

The company, which supplies 7,000 business and commercial customers and is listed on the AIM market, also cut its profit guidance, saying challenging market conditions ‘continue to compress the gross margins available to energy suppliers’. 

Yü shares are now down 91 per cent from the peak of 1,345p that they hit in March this year. 

Yü shares are now down 91 per cent from the peak of 1,345p that they hit in March this year. 

Yü shares are now down 91 per cent from the peak of 1,345p that they hit in March this year. 

Shares were trading at 580p on yesterday’s close but as investors absorbed the new release they plunged at today’s open and were last trading at 122p, a fall of nearly 80 per cent.

Yü shares are now worth less than a tenth of their value at the peak of 1,345p that they hit in March this year.

‘The group has reviewed the level of the aged accrued income for each customer account, and compared it with the amounts that have been or can be subsequently invoiced,’ a Yü spokesman said.

‘The review has highlighted that a significant amount of the aged accrued income is not recoverable and requires adjustment, thereby reducing profitability in the current year.’

Aged accrued income would total £4.2million for 2017 and £4.3million for the first half of 2018.

Earlier this year, residential energy firm Iresa ceased trading in an indication that some small energy firms have been struggling to stay in the black due to tough competition in the sector.

One of the other areas of concern that Yü flagged up following a performance review are the market conditions which ‘continue to compress the gross margins available to energy suppliers’.

However, despite the disappointment on the stock fall, chief executive Bobby Kalar said that he expects the firm to return to profitability in 2019.

He said: ‘As founder and majority shareholder, nobody is more disappointed in this development than me.

‘Our booked revenue from new sales remains strong and contracted revenue for 2019 is already £67million as at the end of September 2018.

‘We have improved internal controls around working capital management and the board is absolutely focused on restoring the profitability of the business.’



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