Growth fizzles out at Bell Microsystems

Portsmouth-based VAR posts flat sales following growth spurt

Growth dried up for privately held VAR Bell Microsystems last year as sales for its financial year to 30 September 2012 came in flat.

The Portsmouth-based reseller made it into the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 league table last year after its 2011 sales mushroomed by nearly three quarters to £51.3m.

But for its fiscal 2012, sales fell fractionally to £50.8m as net profit slid from £780,000 to £532,000 year on year, a set of results labelled "satisfactory" by its directors.

Focusing on vendors including Oracle, IBM, Symantec, HP and Dell, Bell claims it can adapt more quickly than some of its rivals because it is not private-equity backed. Last year it appointed a new managing director, in the form of former 2e2 managing director Nick Petheram.

Although Bell's average monthly headcount rose slightly to 81 in its fiscal 2012, its wage bill fell by five per cent to £3.59m. Trade debts doubled to £13.9m, mostly reflecting a long-term contract which is being financed by HP.

Some £29.3m of revenue was drawn from Europe, with a further £5.1m hauled in from the rest of the world.