Brightmere Energy has returned to profit, reporting EBITDA of £42 million for the year ended 31 March 2023 against a loss of £24 million in the preceding year. Revenue rose to £2.64 billion from £1.42 billion. The Bristol company supplied around 1.15 million homes at the latest year end.
The figures cover the period before Calder Infrastructure Partners acquired a 62% stake in April. They therefore describe the business the investor bought into, rather than a full year under its ownership. The founders and early investors retain the balance of the shares.
Simon Arkwright, who joined as Chief Financial Officer in May, said the return to positive earnings was important to the supplier's financial resilience. He said the company would consider future investment alongside the need to maintain dependable service. The accounts do not turn EBITDA into a measure of how quickly an individual customer's problem is resolved.
Business analyst Celia Davenhall said the revenue comparison needed to be read in the context of energy prices. 'A larger revenue line is not the same thing as a larger margin on every household,' she said. 'The useful questions concern the costs of buying energy, the resources needed to run the accounts and the cash available after those obligations.'
Brightmere expanded during the supplier failures of 2021, receiving Clearwell and Pennant households through Ofgem's supplier-of-last-resort process. It then added customer-service capacity at Filton and welcomed former Pennant colleagues to Swansea. The latest financial year followed much of that disruption and integration work.
Davenhall, who has no role in the company, said a return to profit gave management more room to plan, but that she would not infer a settled operating model from one year's figures. 'You would want to see whether the improvement can be maintained while the company does the less visible work of supporting the larger customer base.'
Brightmere's governance has changed since the reporting date. Helen Marchbank became independent Chair when the Board was reconstituted in July. Arkwright's arrival followed the departure of the company's first finance chief, Alan Prescott. Gareth Linley remains Chief Executive, a post he has held since September 2019.
Asked whether the new owner would alter customer-service spending, Brightmere said investment decisions would take account of service, digital capability and financial resilience. It did not announce a separate staffing programme with the results. The company said customers seeking help should continue to use its existing contact arrangements.
The positive earnings are a clear change from the previous loss. How the additional financial room is used will be visible over a longer period, through the company's investment announcements, its subsequent accounts and the experience of households contacting the supplier. Brightmere has not offered a forecast in this results announcement.