Softcat hails 'exceptionally good market conditions' as it smashes £1bn revenue barrier
Revenues at Marlow-based reseller grow 30 per cent to £1.08bn, with profit increasing even more rapidly
Softcat has broken through the £1bn revenue barrier - with room to spare - as CEO Graeme Watt hailed "exceptionally good market conditions".
The Marlow-based reseller giant saw revenues hike 30 per cent to £1.082bn in its year ended 31 July 2018. This was more than matched at the bottom line, as net profit vaulted 37 per cent to £55m - although one analyst expressed concerns that the number of new customers the firm is adding is cooling. Its shares also fell eight per cent in the aftermath of the results.
Watt paid tribute to Softcat's new apprentice and graduate recruits for winning hundreds of new customers during the year, and signalled Softcat maintains a "strong appetite" for recruiting new talent.
Its average headcount during the year - its 25th in business - rose 10 per cent, and since year end Softcat has opened its first overseas office in Dublin.
Customer numbers, meanwhile, rose by 4.7 per cent to 11,900.
Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said the fact growth in customer numbers slowed from 6.0 per cent in the first half could "stoke concerns that the group's stellar run is at least moderating".
"On the positive side, the amount of profit that Softcat is making out of each customer has grown fantastically," she added.
LSE-listed Softcat has now delivered 52 consecutive quarters of top and bottom-line growth, and Watt said he was "particularly pleased" that a wide spread of its vendors that were firing.
"We grew revenue for fourteen of our top twenty vendors at over 20 per cent and our top twenty vendors made up a healthy 66 per cent of total sales," he said.
"All of our regional offices delivered double-digit growth in gross profit, as did each of our customer segments. We are not overly reliant on any customer or vendor."
Watt name-checked digital transformation as he sought to explain the sales rise.
"The adoption of technology change continues to gather pace, as customers take the opportunity to embrace the benefits of digital transformation," he said. "In 2018 we saw customers from all sectors invest and this is reflected in our customer metrics. Both revenue and gross profit per customer increased significantly, as we benefited from a strong market and the increasing trust placed in us by our clients."
Cincotta, however, warned that Softcat's use of the word "exceptional" to describe 2018 conditions could be a hint that growth may slow in its current year.