Octopus Energy hits 1.4m customers as it releases 2018/19 financial results

• FY18/19 Customer growth from 199k to 691k (3.5x) (Jan2020: 1.4m)
• Revenue growth from £129m to £460m – (2.6x) (FY20 FC £1.26bn)
• Significant investment in customer growth, acquisitions and technology sees £30million loss
• Octopus Energy is backed by Octopus Group, an £8.6billion investment fund

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 am GMT 25th January 2020, London, UK: Octopus Energy, the UK energy retailer which has grown to more than 1.4million customers and now stands at 5pc market share, today releases its financial results for last year.

In the year to April 2019, the green energy company surged to 691,000 customers, from 199,000 customers at the end of April 2018. That is an increase of more than 492,000 customers or 247 per cent.

Revenue in the same period grew from £129million to £460million, a £331million (256 per cent) increase.

Octopus Energy Group, which is backed by the £8.6billion Octopus Investments fund, made a £30million loss in the year. This reflects Octopus’s investment in customer growth and service, the acquisition of other energy companies, and technology to make the smart grid a reality.

Since launching in 2016, Octopus Energy has grown rapidly without compromising on its exceptional customer service or its commitment to green energy. It is top rated by Which? and is the only company to have been awarded Which? Recommended Energy Provider for the last three years in a row. Octopus Energy attributes this to investment in its unique technology platform, Kraken, which enables the company to be simultaneously highly efficient and customer friendly.

During the accounting period, Octopus Energy took on 90,000 customers from failed supplier Iresa Energy, acquired Hove-based Affect Energy and its 20,000 customers, and formed a strategic partnership with M&S for the retailer’s energy offering.

Octopus Energy’s cutting-edge technology enabled the rollout of the Agile Octopus tariff – a dynamic tariff that gives access to half-hourly energy prices linked to the wholesale price – and even pays customers to use electricity when there is surplus renewable generation. The innovative tariff is proving particularly beneficial in enabling grid and power networks to handle the increased load of electric vehicles without additional investment in infrastructure. It has also helped grow the number of Octopus Electric Vehicles customers who are leasing fully electric vehicles, bundled with chargers and bespoke energy tariffs, to save money and energy.

Octopus Energy’s industry-leading technology platform Kraken allows lowest cost-to-serve of any large supplier, according to a leading management consultancy, and is now being exported internationally. In May 2019, it partnered with Korean solar manufacturer Hanwha to launch an energy retail business in Australia. In September 2019, Octopus acquired German green energy supplier 4hundred.

The Group has plans to launch in more countries over the next 18 months and will also launch a Dynamic Energy Research Centre to help design and drive a technology-enabled energy system centered around the benefits of renewables.

Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson said: “Globally, energy is a $2trillion market which needs to be fundamentally reinvented over the next decade, to stop causing climate change and start fighting it. Our investment in technology and scale is demonstrating that a consumer-driven energy revolution is the cheapest, quickest way to go green and we’ll now invest more in faster, global growth

“This was another incredible year for Octopus Energy, where we became a top 10 UK energy retailer, and delivered world-leading technology to make decarbonization faster and cheaper. Our revenue and customer numbers were ahead of targets and profit was exactly as forecast.

“We expect our UK energy retail business to be close to break-even at the EBITDA level this year, significantly earlier than previously expected and so will continue to invest more in technology, more rapid expansion and bringing cheaper, greener energy with outstanding service to ever more customers.”

Octopus Group CEO Simon Rogerson said: “Octopus Energy is one of the most exciting businesses we’ve ever backed, with an exceptional team and outstanding service to customers. We’ve increased our investment in Octopus Energy and will continue to do so as it paves the way to a world of affordable green energy. It’s transformed the sector through transparency, innovation and total customer-focus, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”

FY 2018/2019 Highlights

• Launched groundbreaking Agile tariff
• Acquired Usio, Affect, Iresa, Gen4U
• Selected by M&S to run M&S Energy
• Awarded Which? Recommended Energy Supplier, UK Employee Experience Best Company to Work For, USwitch Most Recommended Energy Supplier
• Glassdoor rating 4.3/5, Trustpilot 9.6/10

About Octopus Energy

Octopus Energy Group encompasses Octopus Energy, Octopus Electric Vehicles, Octopus Energy Services and Kraken Technologies.

Octopus Energy launched to the public in April 2016. It supplies 100% renewable electricity and gas to c. 1.4 million homes in the UK, Germany and Australia. Octopus Energy is top rated by Which? and the only company to have been awarded Which? Recommended Energy Provider three years in a row. It has also been awarded the company which has done the most to advance renewables in Britain and was voted the UK’s best company to work for in the UK Employee Experience Awards.  Founded by e-commerce entrepreneurs, Octopus Energy has a different starting point to other retailers, aiming to redefine what is possible for consumers and the system by using technology and data to deliver the best products and experience. 

Octopus Energy is backed by Octopus Group, a financial services and energy firm, which manages more than £8.6bn of funds. Octopus has invested more than £2.7bn in renewable assets across Europe, while its ventures arm has backed UK success stories like Zoopla, LoveFilm, Depop, Secret Escapes and SwiftKey. 

For more information, check out our website.

Graphs to accompany Octopus Energy financial results

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 am GMT 25th January 2020

• UK electricity supplier market share
• Market share growth since Q1 2018

Source: market share through Q2 2019 as reported by Ofgem; Q3 2019 estimates as provided in public financial disclosures and/or press releases. Ofgem provided share is rounded to nearest percentage point so all figures are estimates.

Market shares do not add to 100% - other small suppliers totalling ~15% in Q3 2019 excluded from this view.

Market share growth calculated as change in share (as reported by Ofgem and estimates) from Q3 2019 estimates v. Q1 2018 reported figures.