Westcon-Comstor sees record first-half sales totalling $3.37bn

‘These results demonstrate the resilience of specialist, value-added distribution and its ability to deliver growth,’ CEO David Grant tells CRN

Westcon-Comstor has announced record first-half gross sales of $3.37bn (£2.53bn), up 21.3 per cent from H1 FY26, which stood at $2.78bn.

Recurring gross sales grew 20 per cent, totaling $2.25bn, and accounted for 67 per cent of total gross sales during the period up to 31 August 2026.

Adjusted EBITDA also reached a record first-half high of $86.7m, up 13.5 per cent from H1 FY26’s $76.4m.

“These results demonstrate the resilience of specialist, value-added distribution and its ability to deliver growth despite a challenging and unpredictable market,” David Grant, CEO at Westcon-Comstor tells CRN.

Gross sales saw double-digit growth across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific, all three of the distributor’s operating regions.

Cybersecurity remained Westcon-Comstor’s largest technology category (gross sales up 21.6 per cent year-on-year), followed by networking sales (increased by 11.9 per cent) and data centre and cloud infrastructure (rising 75 per cent).

Westcon-Comstor CEO David Grant discusses their financial results

Grant spoke with CRN following the financial results to discuss what he believes their success can be attributed to.

“For us, value-added distribution means giving partners more than access to products and solutions.

“It requires combining data-led intelligence with the expertise of our people to help partners identify demand, build capability and create more predictable, repeatable revenue streams.”

The financial results appear strong; driven by the value the distributor could provide against a backdrop of cautious end-user spending.

“Demand across our core technology areas of cybersecurity, networking and cloud remains strong, but end-user customers are scrutinising investments more closely and expecting a clearer return,” he said.

“That puts greater emphasis on the value partners can bring before, during and after the initial sale, as well as distribution’s role in enabling and driving that value.”

Recurring sales grew in H1, accounting for more than half of all gross sales.

“The strength of our recurring software and services business is important.

“Recurring business gives partners greater predictability, strengthens customer relationships and creates more opportunities to add value over time.”

The distributor saw strong hardware sales and increased demand for AI infrastructure, even while hardware prices remain unstable.

“The hardware side of our business performed strongly, supported by a broader networking refresh cycle and increased inventory planning in response to pricing volatility,” he explained.

“We also saw strong demand for the networking, datacentre and cloud infrastructure required to support cloud adoption and AI workloads.

“That creates opportunities for partners across recurring software and services, as well as the underlying infrastructure.

“AI adds another dimension.

“Customers need advice on the infrastructure, networking, cloud and cybersecurity foundations required to use AI effectively, creating opportunities for partners across several areas of our portfolio.”

More complex technology infrastructures

Westcon-Comstor believes its role as a value-added distributor has become more important as technology environments become increasingly complex.

“By helping customers adopt, expand and renew solutions over time, partners can stay involved throughout the customer and solution lifecycle rather than relying on individual transactions.

“We’re seeing more partners look at how they can build repeatable propositions around services, subscriptions and renewals.

“That transition requires the right commercial insight, technical capability and understanding of customer needs.

“Distribution has an important role here too in helping partners bring those elements together and develop models that can scale.”

Looking ahead, Grant expects AI to play a more nuanced role, as the trend shifts from experimenting with AI, to deploying AI projects that provide value for end-users.

“As we move into a more commercially grounded phase of AI adoption, partners are thinking carefully about where they can create genuine customer value and build repeatable revenue.

“This is a significant opportunity for the channel, especially where technical expertise is combined with a clear understanding of customer needs and business outcomes.

“We stand ready to support partners in their pursuit of growth, whatever the market brings over the second half of the year and into the future.”