Computacenter aims for #1 billion turnover

The UK?s largest reseller, Computacenter, has announced a turnover of #276 million for its Q1, in line with its ambition to hit the #1 billion turnover mark by the end of the year.

The reseller made the unusual decision last week to reveal its first quarter results for the period ended 31 March, but refused to disclose the profit level.

Mike Norris, Computacenter managing director said: ?This puts us well on target for a turnover of #1 billion for 1997 for the UK alone. We are 41 per cent up on the first quarter of last year. We think this is an indication, not only of how well Computacenter is doing, but of how buoyant the market is in general at the moment.?

He pointed to the growth of the French arm of the business. ?The French business is growing slightly quicker than the UK business at over 40 per cent. We?re hoping to have a turnover of about $100 million by the end of this year. We?re now the fourth biggest reseller in France and on track to becoming the third. Considering the state of the French economy we?re extremely pleased.?

Martin Hellawell, general manager of corporate development and marketing, said the reseller would continue its programme of European expansion with a ?small but significant? German acquisition, planned for the end of May.