Luceco plc

Luceco reported higher first-half revenue and profit, led by rapid growth in energy-transition products, and said it now expects full-year adjusted operating profit to exceed market expectations. Revenue rose 13.4% to £142.6 million in the first half, while adjusted operating profit increased 14.5% to £15.8 million, adjusted profit before tax climbed 19.4% to £12.9 million, and adjusted earnings per share rose 13.6% to £0.067. Energy-transition revenue more than doubled to £18 million, up 119.5%, while the rest of the core business grew 6.5%, and the board raised the interim dividend by 16.7% to £0.021 per share. Adjusted free cash flow was an outflow of £2.1 million as the company built inventory for anticipated second-half demand and invested in EV infrastructure, though bank leverage improved to 1.5 times EBITDA from 1.6 times. New chief executive Thorsten Müller, who joined at the start of September, said he would provide fuller views at the company's full-year results in March, and management said growth in EV charger sales should support revenue from its Demand Flexibility charger-management platform, which has more than 30,000 active chargers.