Octopus Energy of the United Kingdom gains a larger share of the energy retail market
- ByStartupStory | January 29, 2022
Following the collapse of smaller suppliers last year, Octopus Energy Ltd has risen to become the UK’s fifth largest power supplier, having added new customers and increasing revenues.
Octopus reported energy supply revenues of 1.9 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) for the year ending April 30, 2021, up from 1.2 billion the previous year, as its customer base grew to 2.1 million, according to full-year results released on Saturday.
After Centrica’s (CNA.L) British Gas, OVO Energy, E.ON (EON.UL), and EDF’s (EDF.PA) EDF Energy, the privately held Octopus Energy Group now has more than three million customers, making it the UK’s fifth largest energy retailer.
Octopus made an operating loss of nearly 85 million pounds last year, compared to nearly 50 million pounds in 2020, owing to continued re-investment, according to the company.
After deducting customer acquisition costs and exceptionals, the loss was estimated to be around 1 million pounds, according to the report.
As economies reopened from COVID-19 lockdowns and high demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia pushed down supplies to Europe, natural gas and power prices in Europe have risen this year.
Since the beginning of 2021, more than 25 British suppliers have gone bankrupt due to rising wholesale gas and power prices, poor forward power sales hedging, and a price cap that prevented them from passing on rising costs to customers, forcing millions of households to switch to new suppliers.
Octopus Energy Group said in a statement that it expects to lose around 100 million pounds as it absorbs the impact of the energy crisis on behalf of customers.
Octopus Energy Ltd, a gas and renewable energy supplier, said it employs a sophisticated hedging strategy, making forward commitments for power and gas delivery for each new or renewed fixed-price customer.
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