Exertis parent swipes Morrisons' berth in FTSE 100

DCC secures place in prestigious index of top 100 UK firms

The parent company of IT distributor Exertis is being promoted to the FTSE 100 under the global index provider's quarterly reshuffle.

DCC is one of three firms being bumped up to the index of the UK's top 100 firms alongside payment services firm Worldplay Group and financial services outfit Provident Financial.

Supermarket chain Morrisons is among the trio of companies to make way, FTSE Russell said yesterday. Security company G4S and aerospace company Meggitt will also move down to the FTSE 250.

The promotion, which could make Exertis' shares more desirable among investors, will take effect on 21 December.

DCC Technology, which operates under the Exertis brand, claims to be Europe's fourth-largest IT distributor and generates more than a fifth of DCC Group's £10.6bn annual turnover.

In the six months ending 30 September, DCC Technology saw operating profit shrink 44 per cent to £8.6m year on year on revenues that rose 4.9 per cent to £1.09bn.

DCC said its distribution arm was hit by "weak performance" in the UK business, which saw revenue fall eight per cent organically during the period stripping out its recent acquisition of Apple distributor Computers Unlimited.

Counting Dell, Lenovo and Samsung among its key vendors, Exertis claims to rank first in market share in the UK and Ireland, seventh in France and third in Sweden. It also operates in Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and UAE and harbours plans to expand into Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Finland.