Computacenter has posted an 18% increase in group sales for the first half, breaching the £2bn mark for the first time ever in a H1 period. The statutory profit before tax was £52m, an increase of 9.5% on the same period last year.
The services sales segment went up a modest 2.3% and the larger technology sourcing business jumped 26%.
Germany delivered another strong performance with revenue growth of 11.4% during the period, driven by “excellent” technology sourcing sales leading to a 53.1% increase in adjusted operating profits, said the firm.
The UK continued positive sales momentum with growth of 29.5% in revenue during the period, albeit “flattered” by two very large “margin-dilutive” technology sourcing deals. These technology sourcing margin challenges, and “several challenging” professional services engagements, resulted in an adjusted operating profit of 20.6%.
France “successfully negotiated” a difficult period of contract renewals, and the expiry of a “significant” managed services contract, said Computacenter, with an overall revenue decline of 1.2%, contrasted by a 41.2% increase in adjusted operating profits.
Mike Norris, chief executive of Computacenter, said: "2018 is proving to be a year of significant progress particularly for our technology sourcing business. The buoyant market conditions are being driven by the need to increase network capacity, the constant need for enhanced cyber security, workplace upgrades and a move to the cloud.
“While it is impossible to predict how long these buoyant market conditions will continue, most of these drivers have significant momentum.”
