21st Jan 2015 07:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Computacenter PLC said in a trading statement Wednesday that its results for 2014 are anticipated to be in line with its previous expectations, despite the strength of sterling against the euro.
The IT services company said that, whilst it is encouraged by the continued momentum it has built up in the UK and its positive end of the year in Germany, it is "far too early to make any predictions in respect of 2015".
Computacenter said its revenue for 2014 rose 1% on a reported basis, although up 4% at constant currency, boosted by a strong fourth quarter.
In the UK revenue was up 10% in 2014, with services revenue up 9% and supply chain revenue up 11%. The company secured a number of new contracts during the year that it said will assist its revenue growth in 2015 and beyond, although it noted that a significant reduction in one particular contract will hamper growth in services revenue during 2015.
Growth in its supply chain revenue was "a little more modest" in its second half compared to the first half of 2014, but Computacenter said it was pleased with its overall growth in the UK business during the year.
In Germany, revenue fell 3% at constant currency for 2014. However, it saw a "significant improvement" during the fourth quarter, seeing revenue up 11% at constant currency. The company still expects to release some of the provision it made against onerous contracts in Germany to be reported with its full year results.
In France, revenue rose 6% at constant currency in 2014, although revenue in its fourth quarter fell 3%. The company said it had seen an "extremely challenging" year in its French operations, as general market conditions remained difficult, and it suffered from "poor service quality delivered by the business in 2013".
Computacenter said it has made progress in reducing working capital tied up in the French business, but noted that there remains "much to do in this area, including taking sustained action to lower levels of overdue debtors."
The company will present its full-year results on March 12.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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