Quintet of leading VARs post solid FY13 numbers

Millgate Computers, Grey Matter, Excell, PCS Systems and NG Bailey IT Services file upbeat accounts

Sam Trendall
@trendallicious
19 November 2013

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Five of the UK's biggest resellers have posted upbeat results, with top and bottom lines showing impressive resilience.

Excell Group, Grey Matter, Millgate Computer Systems, NG Bailey IT Services and PCS Business Systems – all of whom are among the 100 biggest VARs in the UK –have filed FY13 numbers at Companies House recently.

Comms specialist Excell Group saw its sales for the 12 months to 30 April increase by more than £650,000 year-on-year to £24.2m, while operating profit inched up to £1.06m.

"During the period there were challenging trading conditions, with significant competition to win new business in most product areas," said the directors' report for the year. "But negotiating new supplier arrangements, particularly on data and call charges, has enabled the gross profit margins to be maintained."

Resellers Millgate Computer Systems and Grey Matter both enjoyed double-digit top-line growth in their 2013 fiscal years. Sheffield-based Millgate added about £4m to its turnover for the year to 31 July, growing sales to £26.8m. Operating profit at the Cisco, IBM, HP and Lenovo partner rose more than 30 per cent annually to £1.05m.

Licensing specialist Grey Matter grew sales 13.4 per cent to £30.4m, while operating profit increased four per cent to £804,542.

"The company continues to invest in both staff development and its infrastructure to ensure that it can achieve its long-term strategic objectives," said the directors' report.

NG Bailey IT Services – the technology arm of construction giant NG Bailey, formerly known as Bailey Teswaine – enjoyed a boost in underlying profitability in FY13, despite revenue declining marginally to £52.05m. For the year to 1 March 2013, operating profit before exceptional costs and additional pension contributions jumped by more than £1m to £2.8m.

Kettering-based HP, Microsoft and VMware partner PCS Business Systems posted a very stable set of numbers in FY13, with both the top and bottom line showing very slight decreases. Turnover for the year to 31 May came in at a little more than £20.3m, while operating profit stood at £900,909. But the directors' report for the year stresses that net assets rose during the year and gross margins increased from 20.3 to 21.5 per cent.

The directors' report concludes: "Even though the IT product and services market continues to be very competitive, and considering the current economic climate, further opportunities exist to expand the outsourced managed services side of the business as the market looks at ways to reduce overheads. The product supply business will continue to benefit from our strong relationships, not only with our clients, but also many suppliers."