Computerlinks reveals FY numbers for first time in years

Revenue up 25 per cent at pan-global distributor

Computerlinks grew its annual revenue by nearly a quarter in 2012, according to its first full-year financial statement released since it was taken private in 2008.

For the 12 months to 31 December, the pan-global distributor's sales jumped by 22 per cent to $1.25bn (£820m). The firm kept its profit figures for the year under wraps but did reveal that its EBITDA before one-off payments had grown by 23 per cent when compared with 2011.

In 2010, Computerlinks planned a radical "re-engineering" of the firm through which it aimed to more than double its EBITDA margin from 4.5 to 10 per cent by investing in non-core technologies and services. The move came two years after it was taken private following Equistone Partners Europe taking a majority stake in the firm.

In its most recent statement, Computerlinks' founder Stephan Link said the firm is "shaped substantially" by goal-oriented Equistone, and since its involvement five years ago, his firm's turnover has rocketed by more than 75 per cent.

The company, which operates in 25 countries and employs nearly 700 staff, revealed that its sales grew across all global regions in 2012, with the North America and Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions growing the fastest.

While it declined to share how well Europe had done, it claimed the region has "continued to develop" and performed "well ahead" of the 4.2 per cent growth Gartner predicted for the overall market in its 2012 Q4 IT Spending Forecast Summary.

Link added that the firm's success has been partly down to its organic growth plans.

"The results not only mark the ongoing development of our company, but also serve as confirmation of our organic expansion and growth strategy," he said.

"As a financially robust company, Computerlinks delivers a product and service portfolio with global appeal and largely independent of the economy."