Octopus Energy Group more than doubled its revenue in the full-year 2022 from a year earlier, lifted by the strength of its Kraken billing platform business and rising customer numbers.
Overall, the Octopus Energy Group saw its revenues grow from to £4.2 billion £2.0 billion to £4.2 billion, a 110% increase year-on-year, achieved against challenging conditions in the retail energy market.
Net assets more than doubled to £473 million from £204 million, or 130%, due to more inflows from Generation Investment Management and CPPIB, as well as continued support from existing shareholders Origin Energy and Tokyo Gas.
Retail arm Octopus Energy Limited saw customer numbers increase by 54%, to 3.2 million from 2 million, over the last year. This includes customers under the brands Octopus Energy, M&S Energy, Affect Energy, Ebico, London Power and Co-op Energy.
The company is set to take on Bulb’s 1.5 million customers, having completed the acquisition of the failed supplier in December.
Last year also saw the company expand internationally, with retail acquisitions in Spain, Italy and France, as well as entry into Poland. Octopus is active in 13 countries in four continents as of end-2022.
The increase in customers led to revenue doubling for Octopus Energy Limited to £3.9 billion from £1.9 billion.
The company reported a £161 million loss, predominantly due to its decision to absorb £150 million of wholesale cost increase on behalf of customers, keeping tariffs below the price cap. For 2021, the group had reported an operating loss of £84.7 million.
It also established an Assistance Fund with £5 million paid to customers in 2022, a figure which has risen to £5 million since the end of the year. The Assistance Fund payments in 2022, along with running other support schemes, account for the balance of the loss in the period under review, the company noted.
Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus Energy Group, said in a statement: “We’ve helped guide industry and governments to navigate the short- and long-term challenges in energy and are playing our part at every level. It has never been more important to build a better, fairer energy system for all, and Octopus Energy Group is truly leading the way. We could have made a profit, but now’s not the time – instead we chose to absorb £150m of escalating costs on behalf of customers through prices and support funds, debt-forgiveness and increased service.”
One of the key arms of Octopus to see significant growth over the last year has been Kraken Technologies, which saw its revenue grow to £115 million from £69 million, a 66% jump year-on-year. Driving this, its operating profit increased by 10% to £40 million.
Over 2022, the company migrated 7.4 million energy accounts onto its platform, including licenses from E.ON, where it is serving over 16 million accounts as of the end of 2022.
This is up 26% compared to the number of migrations the previous year, and saw 370,000 customers migrated per week at peak times during E.ON migration.
Like the company’s retail arm, Kraken has also expanded internationally to nine countries, as well as working through incorporated subsidiaries in Turkey and Japan. To service this expansion, the number if UK employees within Kraken increased by 72% from 111 to 192.
Beyond the financials, Octopus Energy Group’s FY22 results pointed to continued expansion in a number of areas including its £6 billion of generation assets under management, the “coming-of-age of Octopus Electric Vehicles” and its £10 million R&D facility in Slough.
The strong results from the group follow the FY21 results where it suggested it would take a £100 million hit from the energy crisis. While the knock-on impact of the high gas prices has been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Government support schemes have also stepped in to support customers.