Exclusive Networks hails H1 growth and appoints M&A bod

Distributor claims Computerlinks' acquisition and range of new vendors' tech will help propel it into €1bn club

Exclusive Networks has hailed 20 per cent annual revenue growth for the first half of 2013 and claims its acquisition strategy and a string of new vendors' tech will drive similar growth in the future.

For the first six months of the year, the Exclusive Networks Group's sales jumped 20 per cent annually to €150m (£125.87m), while its profit rocketed by more than 35 per cent - although the firm remained tight-lipped over how much it was.

The group claims it is on track to smash its €334m sales target for the full year, and also has its eye on hitting €1bn annual sales by 2017.

Despite the strong year-on-year growth in the first half of 2013, Exclusive admitted it had hoped for a 30 per cent revenue hike, but that the loss of Cisco-owned vendor Ironport - when the pair's distribution strategy merged - meant it fell short of the target.

Exclusive's chief executive Olivier Breittmayer (pictured) said he was still pleased with the strong annual growth and that the loss of Ironport has been made up for in the form of a string of new vendors such as Nutanix.

"We hope to do more than 20 per cent [revenue growth] next year and with new vendors on board such as Nutanix, for example, who are successful in lots of countries, so we hope the strong growth will continue," he said.

"The UK is our biggest market and we have continued to be successful there."

Breittmayer added that the firm has recently appointed Nicolas Trombert to the role of corporate director, and that the newcomer will drive the firm's acquisition plans.

"We have a strategy to reach €1bn [sales by 2017] through organic and acquisitive growth. Nicolas will be very helpful for this strategy. We have a lot of different projects at the moment and a specialist like this is important for us to continue with this strategy."

Breittmayer added that the recent Arrow buyout of Comperlinks could also boost its top line.

"We are now the sole independent distributor for security in Europe and I think we are stronger than in the past because we are specialised," he said. "We are in a very, very strong position for vendors who want to address the European market."