Strix Group PLC on Wednesday said that the purchase of Billi Australia Pty Ltd has ‘delivered exactly as expected’, leading the firm’s annual revenue to skyrocket.

The Isle of Man-based provider of kettle safety controls reported a 35% jump in its 2023 revenue to £144.6 million, from £106.9 million the year before.

This was largely driven by Billi, an Australia-based supplier of premium filtered and non-filtered instant boiling, chilled and sparkling water systems. Strix acquired it back in 2022, with the full-year inclusion of Billi revenues standing at £41.3 million.

In an interview with Alliance News, Strix’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Bartlett explained that since Billi was acquired in November 2022, its revenue contribution was only included in one month of the company’s 2022 earnings. 2023 recorded 12 months of Billi revenue, hence the ‘significant jump.’

Bartlett also told Alliance News that although there was ‘more modest’ growth from its Kettles business, it still contributed to a boost in annual sales.

Pretax profit rose by 9.9% to £17.7 million as a result, from £16.1 million the year before.

Strix, however, lowered its total dividend for 2023 by 85% to 0.9 pence per share, from 6.0p the year before.

The firm said that because it ‘remains focused on maximising cash generation to support debt reduction’, it will temporarily pause its final and interim dividend payments in 2024.

When asked about the pause in dividend, Bartlett said that the firm has ‘been listening to the market’, adding that ‘we are very focused on debt reduction and we are doing things internally, in terms of efficiency measures and product rationalisations, to ensure we are driving those costs down’.

The dividend measure is ‘another way to accelerate that deleveraging profile,’ Bartlett said. He then assured Alliance News that ‘this is very much a pause for the period of 2024, and we have already committed to restart that dividend in 2025 at 30% of the adjusted PTA.’

‘Hopefully that gives a level of confidence that this is a temporary position to get below two times debt as quickly as possible,’ Bartlett added.

Looking ahead, Strix said it is undertaking a rebasing of its core business in 2024 to ‘build strong foundations for medium-term growth opportunities as the market continues to recover.’

It added that Billi’s double-digit revenue and profit growth is expected to continue, helped by a staged expansion into key European markets.

Strix also remains focused on deleveraging, and continues strategic investment into new products to accelerate growth in the medium-term.

Bartlett described Billi as ‘an acquisition of a lifetime,’ calling the purchase ‘very encouraging for the long term’. He also credited the purchase of Laica SpA, which was bought in 2022, as a ‘strong acquisition’, saying he was ‘very happy that those foundations are there.’

Shares in Strix fell 2.5% to 65.10 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

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