UK's Octopus Energy reports annual loss as investments weigh

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Britain's Octopus Energy reported an annual pretax loss on Tuesday, due to heavy spending to expand its businesses, including the Kraken technology platform, which it plans to spin off.

The UK's largest energy supplier has been investing heavily to fuel growth across services, such as heat pumps, solar panels and electric vehicles, while also fortifying its plans to spin off its AI‑driven unit, Kraken Technologies.

The business unit is now valued at $8.65 billion as an independent company, Octopus said on Monday, after a funding round led by U.S. investor D1 Capital Partners.

"We are investing at scale in the services that will define this new era of energy," CEO and founder Greg Jackson said, adding that Octopus now had about 10 million customers globally.

The company posted a loss before taxation of 260.1 million pounds ($350.7 million) for the year ended April 30, 2025, compared with a profit of 77.6 million pounds the previous year.

Total group revenues, including contracts, rose 10% to 13.68 billion pounds.

($1 = 0.7417 pounds)

(Reporting by Ankita Bora in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)