'Strong demand' for cloud adoption and security behind Bytes' growth, CEO says

Income, revenue and profit all rose for Bytes Software Services during the first half of 2021

Bytes Software Services CEO Neil Murphy said strong demand for security, cloud adoption and remote working solutions drove growth during the first half of 2021 as the reseller saw sales and profits rise.

Gross invoiced income rose 26.3 per cent year-on-year for the six months ending 31 August 2021 to reach £638.2m, while revenue, which is adjusted for IFRS and stated after the netting adjustment for cloud and critical security license sales, grew 13.7 per cent year-on-year to £251.4m.

Adjusted operating profit, meanwhile, grew 22 per cent to £25m and adjusted earnings per share rose 17.9 per cent to 8.48.

"I am delighted to report this strong set of results, which saw the group deliver against its strategic goals, producing growth across all areas of the business," Murphy said.

"We have maintained our track record of year-on-year growth despite the ongoing uncertainty caused by the pandemic, with our business benefitting from our wide-ranging offering, and our partnerships with the world's leading vendors and software publishers.

"Encouragingly, we have seen continued growth from our public sector customers and strengthening demand from our corporate clients.

"Our customers' appetite for security, cloud adoption, digital transformation, hybrid datacentre and remote working solutions have underpinned growth in H1 FY22. These investments increasingly take the form of annualised contracts and, accordingly, we remain confident in the group's growth prospects going forward."

Gross invoiced income for software and services grew 27 per cent and 27.1 percent respectively year-on-year while hardware grew marginally at 2.6 per cent.

Bytes underwent an IPO last December and saw its revenues increase by £20m in its results for the last full year, and Murphy claimed the business is in a strong position to continue growing.

"We remain proud of the energy, enthusiasm and professionalism demonstrated by our people through what continues to be a challenging time for families, organisations and society in general," he added.

"Our future growth will be supported by both increasing headcount as well as training and development in key areas."