Bulb’s net loss has soared to £129 million as it also reports surging growth in members and revenue.
In an annual update for Bulb’s members, co-founder and CEO Hayden Wood revealed the supplier’s net loss increased from £28 million to £129 million over the period of April 2018 – March 2019. However, Wood said this was roughly the same proportions as revenue and “is part of the plan”.
Revenues jumped from £183 million to £823 million over the year, with gross profit coming in at £8 million. Bulb also saw a surge in members from 870,000 to over 1.6 million, with the company targeting increased growth in 2020 with intentions of continuing to invest in its expansion.
In 2019, Bulb announced its plans to expand internationally, targeting France, Spain and Texas. It intends to fully launch in the three markets in 2020, with the supplier currently testing the service with the first few customers.
Wood also outlined in the update problems with rolling out the smart meter network. Bulb began installations in February, and has now installed 195,000 SMETS2 meters.
“While the majority of members’ installations went ahead without a hitch, this hasn’t been true for everyone,” Wood said, adding the rollout is a technical challenge for every supplier, with Bulb experiencing problems with the technology now the rollout is happening at scale.
Issues included some meters struggling to connect with the network and some having problems with the In-Home Display.
In 2020, it plans to make its smart tariff available to all its smart members and provide new digital tools for understanding and lowering energy usage, as well as exploring how to be “more useful” to homeowners with solar PV and electric vehicles.
Bulb partnered Samsung and energy tech firm Chameleon in October 2019 for a new tool designed to help consumers make smarter, more energy efficient decisions at home.
