Smart Metering Systems, which installs and manages smart meters, says it sees further opportunities in the market after posting a near-doubling of profit to £16 million (£8.3m) for the year to the end of December.

Underlying profit before taxation up 34% to £24.5m (2021: £18.3m).

The board is recommending a 10% increase in the total dividend to 30.25p (27.5p) in line with policy until 2024; covered by long-term, sustainable cash flows generated from existing assets.

Tim Mortlock, chief executive, said: “We have delivered another year of strong performance across all our key metrics. This again highlights the attractiveness of our CaRe asset portfolio and the strong execution by our teams. 

“The strong momentum in our meter and grid-scale batteries businesses provides us with confidence in our 2023 and longer term outlook – we will continue to deliver on our sustainable promises.

“We also see significant market opportunities to further accelerate our portfolio of CaRe assets, including EV charging infrastructure and Behind-the-meter solar and storage.

“Meeting the key challenges of energy security, affordability and sustainability – SMS is strongly positioned to provide the knowledge, engineering, data platforms and services behind the UK’s move to net zero.”