Octopus Energy founder Greg Jackson has urged the London Stock Exchange to show "more hustle" if it wants to secure the listing of his £6.4 billion Kraken Technologies division. The chief executive indicated that while he would "love" to float the AI-powered energy platform in London, the decision currently remains a "coin toss" between the UK capital and New York.
Jackson told the Press Association: «Speaking as the founder, shareholder and a Brit, I would love it to be London. But I would need to see more hustle from the London Stock Exchange – they need to be bringing in more capital.» He called on the government to encourage British pension funds to invest more in UK companies.
The comments come as Octopus plans to demerge Kraken within the next few months, with a potential stock market flotation expected in the next two to three years. The software division, originally built for Octopus but now serving global energy retailers including EDF, E.On Next and National Grid US, recently attracted investment from D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity International and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. About $1 billion in equity has been sold.
Heavy financial loss
Octopus Energy Group reported a pre-tax loss of £260.1 million for the year to April 30, a sharp reversal from the previous year's £77.6 million profit. The UK's largest energy supplier attributed around £103 million of the loss to warmer weather – the hottest spring on record since 1885 – which caused gas usage to slump by 11% in March and 25% in April.
Stripping out one-off impacts, underlying earnings fell 69% to £90 million. However, the UK household energy arm achieved record underlying earnings of £347 million.
The company added 800,000 new UK customers during the period, bringing its total to 7.6 million and cementing a 24% market share after overtaking British Gas earlier this year. Overseas customers almost doubled to 2.4 million. Group revenues rose 10% to £13.7 billion.
Regulatory pressure
Octopus said it is working «constructively» with regulator Ofgem to meet capital adequacy rules, though it criticized the requirements as «set at a level without precedent in any of the other deregulated markets in which we operate». The company stated: «The group is financially resilient and the UK retail business exceeds the regulator's minimum capitalisation requirements, with an agreed pathway to the target.»
The firm plans to invest $320 million in Kraken, which connects more than 70 million household and business energy accounts globally. Combined with existing resources, this is expected to nearly double Octopus's current net assets of £1.5 billion.
Octopus rescued collapsed supplier Bulb in 2021 with state support and spent £57 million during the year keeping its standard energy tariff lower for UK customers.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
