LONDON (Reuters) - British repair and insurance firm Homeserve (L:HSV) said on Tuesday it was looking to expand in selected international markets, after it posted a 12 percent rise in customer numbers in the first half of its financial year.
Chief Executive Richard Harpin told Reuters he was looking to whittle down a shortlist of 11 countries to enter, and would approach large utilities to sign joint ventures.
The company, which sells cover for household emergencies such as boiler breakdowns and burst water pipes, started its international expansion 14 years ago in France, with two thirds of its customers now outside of the UK.
Harpin, who set up the company 22 years ago, did not name the countries under consideration but said he would look at regions such as eastern Europe and Asia.
"All of those are of interest," he said.
Homeserve said customer numbers rose 12 percent to 6.6 million in its fiscal first half, with growth in the United States, France and Spain. The UK remained stable with 2.1 million customers.
However it reported a hit of 1.8 million pounds to pretax profit of 26.2 million pounds, due to foreign exchange headwinds.
Shares in the company were 0.4 percent lower at 417 pence by 1028 GMT.