CDW gives Kelway a good report in Q1

US reseller giant hints at how the pair will 'work closer together'

CDW is "very encouraged" by its partnership with Kelway and said although it is still early days, it is looking forward to forging closer ties with the UK VAR in the future.

On a Q1 conference call this afternoon, US reseller giant CDW's chief executive Thomas Richards said early indications are positive.

"We are pleased," he said. "Although it is still relatively early in the process, Kelway continues to perform well.

"We are very encouraged, as we get closer and work closer together, about the way we are going to be able to serve multinational customers.

"I would tell you it's going as planned at this point."

CDW took a 35 per cent share in Kelway last November for a then-undisclosed amount, but in a CDW earnings call earlier on this year, it revealed it coughed up $87m (£57m) for the slice. CDW will have the option to snap up the remaining stake in Kelway between June 2015 and June 2017.

For the three months to 31 March, CDW's net profit rose 7.5 per cent to $54.7m on sales which over the same period climbed 3.9 per cent to $2.76bn.

Richards added: "First-quarter results reflect our success addressing transitioning customer priorities and leveraging the strength of our business model, as we delivered excellent profitability on solid top-line growth.

"This performance highlights the power of our balanced portfolio of channels, broad product and solutions suite, and the impact of mix on our profitability as customer focus moved away from transactional products towards solutions and healthcare customers continued to focus on cost-cutting."