Computacenter promises jam tomorrow as UK was “disappointing” this year
IT infrastructure company Computacenter today said its UK performance for 2016 was disappointing but says next year will be “a year of progress overall” for the group.
The figures
Adjusted profit before tax fell by £0.5m to £86.4m, as adjusted revenues rose to £3.2bn from £3bn in 2015.
The company declared a dividend of 22.2p per share, up 3.7 per cent.
In the UK, Computacenter said revenue growth in the second half of 2016 could not prevent a 1.1 per cent full year adjusted revenue decline to £1.39bn and supply chain margin challenges and services revenue decline contributed to a 21 per cent reduction in adjusted operating profit to £46.8m.
In Germany, the company reported revenue growth of 1.2 per cent to €1.14bn (£0.99bn) across supply chain and services, and a 15.4 per cent increase in adjusted operating profit.
France performed ahead of management's expectations with a £4.5m increase in adjusted operating profit to £2.9m driven by continuing strength in Supply Chain margins.
The company declared a dividend of 22.2p per share, up 3.7 per cent.
Computacenter share price
Computacenter had hard year in the UK
Why it’s interesting
The company reported record adjusted diluted earnings per share of 54p, up 1.1 per cent and reported annual services revenue of more than £1bn in 2016, the first time it has achieved this.
What the company said
Mike Norris, Computacenter Chief Executive, said: “Whilst in 2016 we had record adjusted diluted EPS, it was a year of mixed fortune with the UK business profitability reducing materially but the overall Group performance showing resilience due to the strength in Germany and the turnaround in France.
“New technologies and the drive to digitalisation within our core customer base is driving our customers to invest capital in new projects which is unlikely to abate, however, this is coupled with a resolute desire to reduce run rate operating costs.”
In short
Computacenter has not had a great year in the UK but other regions did well and the company has guided investors on expected better performance for next year.