Computacenter upbeat on full-year results

UK services growth of 13.9 per cent a highlight for London-listed channel goliath

IT channel bellwether Computacenter was in bullish mood this morning as it posted solid revenue and profit growth for full-year 2010.

The London-listed giant logged a 35.1 per cent spike in pre-tax profit to £65.4m on revenues that rose 6.9 per cent to £2.68bn for the 12 months to 31 December.

UK revenues rose 10.8 per cent to £1.27bn, excluding the effect of its 2009 sale of distribution arm CCD.

UK services revenue boomed 13.9 per cent to £380.5m, which chief executive Mike Norris stressed contrasted with a 0.1 per cent decline in the overall UK IT services market, according to Gartner.

UK product revenues rose 9.5 per cent and Computacenter added that revenue declines in the UK government sector were more than offset by growth in other sectors, particularly financial services.

Norris argued it was a "strong set of results", emphasising that the compound annual growth of its earnings per share stood at over 20 per cent over the last four years.

"We believe that 2011, as a whole, will be a year of continuing improvement for Computacenter's performance," he said. "We are encouraged by end user demand for new technology which is driving the requirement for investment in corporate IT infrastructure, helped by economic improvement within our customers' markets."

Looking further ahead, Norris said he believed there are a number of growth drivers the firm can exploit.

"End user demand for new technology is driving the requirement for investment in corporate IT infrastructure, helped by economic improvement within our customers' markets," Norris said.

"Our services market place continues to grow, albeit at a modest pace, but we feel increasingly confident about our ability to continue to outperform the market. This reflects our customers' desire not to outsource to a single supplier, but to 'smart source' best of breed suppliers, playing to Computacenter's strengths."