Computacenter's shares climb on upbeat full-year update
Product sales remain 'extremely buoyant'
Computacenter's shares hiked this morning as it revealed it would make up on ground lost in the first half to record a full-year profit.
The LSE-listed giant had spooked investors in September when it revealed that interim profits were behind on an annual comparison, due in part to a rebound in travel and event expenses post-Covid.
But thanks to a "record" Q4, Computacenter will achieve profit growth for the full year, the FTSE 250 outfit confirmed in a pre-close update this morning. This would mark its eighteenth consecutive year of underlying adjusted diluted earnings per share growth.
Computacenter's total revenue on a gross invoiced income basis grew by over 30 per cent on the £6.92bn generated in 2021, it revealed. That would put its top line at more than £9bn.
That tally was bolstered by a strong US dollar and its acquisition of $245m-revenue US reseller Business IT Source in July 2022.
Computacenter assured investors that Covid-related factors have now "washed through" its results.
Inflationary pressures will hit services margins, at least in the short term, but looking ahead Computacenter said it is "encouraged" by customers' continued investment in technology.
At the time of writing, Computacenter's shares were up nearly ten per cent on Friday's closing price.
"Whilst our performance in 2022 has been helped by a strong US dollar, and a small acquisition in the second half of the year, this assistance has been far outweighed by the headwinds faced by the business as the Covid-related benefits it experienced in 2020 and 2021 unwound, particularly impacting our services margins," Computacenter stated.
"…We are therefore pleased with the profit growth which we have subsequently achieved for the year as a whole, and the significant momentum that we will carry into 2023, including in our previous and in-year US acquisitions, which have continued to make good progress, both in terms of profit growth and cash generation."