SCC logs fifth consecutive year of 'record' earnings

'Major investment' in UK datacentres ensured continued growth for services business, claims SCC

SCC is celebrating its fifth consecutive year of "record" earnings as the Birmingham-based reseller highlights a strong year for services for its UK operations.

The Birmingham-based firm's EMEA revenues for its financial year ending 31 March 2018 swelled by nine per cent to £1.8bn.

Both measures of profit - EBIT and EBITDA - posted gains in EMEA for the fifth consecutive year, SCC claims, climbing by 10 per cent to £27.7m, and nine per cent to £45m, respectively.

SCC says it enjoyed "strong EBIT growth" in its Spanish and French operations but did not break out specific figures. It claims that UK EBIT was £16m, compared with £17m taken from financial statements for the previous year.

Sales drawn from services climbed by four per cent to £325m, accounting for 18 per cent of overall turnover.

SCC drew attention to "major investment programmes" completed by its datacentres in Birmingham and Hampshire which positively affected its services business for UK customers.

It claims a healthy 13 per cent sales growth for its French business stemmed from thriving long-term relationships in the public and private sectors, while the UK continued to enjoy a "strong performance" in services.

"Performance of the business over the last year has been exceptional with growth and improved profitability in all our key trading operations," CEO James Rigby said.

"There is now a need for all businesses, whoever they are or whatever they do, to digitise their operations and outsourcing that requirement is an effective way to manage the continual investment needed for growth.

"We have invested over the past few years via our cloud services and datacentres in anticipation of that demand and we expect to continue our current performance levels in the coming years.

"We will continue to invest in our capabilities and that means areas such as artificial intelligence and cognitive computing where we are already well placed to meet customer demand. Our performance is also based on the success of our strategic acquisitions we have made over the past few years. We will continue to look at opportunities which fit our strategic criteria and help further grow our capabilities."

SCC's latest annual results follow the completion of a three-year plan to grow its services business.

In France, SCC has invested in a new services centre in Valenciennes to support an existing Paris facility as well as its 1,000-employee-strong shared services centre in Romania.

General director for France, Didier Lejeune, said the new facility will grow to around 300 staff and delivered its first contract on 1 November last year.

The reseller also opened another global delivery centre in Vietnam - in Ho Chi Minh City - last year to provide support around server, storage and networking as well as drive software development.