9th Sep 2024 12:10
(Correcting erroneous cost of sales figure for the first half of 2023.)
(Alliance News) - Computacenter PLC on Monday lifted its interim dividend and reported lower profit as Technology Sourcing volumes normalised in the first half.
The Hertfordshire, England-based technology and services provider said pretax profit decreased 32% to GBP84.0 million in the first half that ended June 30 from GBP122.8 million the previous year.
Revenue was down 13% to GBP3.10 billion from GBP3.58 billion, as cost of sales reduced by 15% to GBP2.63 billion from GBP3.08 billion.
Technology Sourcing revenue fell 17% to GBP2.31 billion; Services revenue fell 2.4% to GBP796.5 million; Managed Services revenue fell 8.0% to GBP430.8 million; Professional Services revenue increased 5.0% to GBP365.7 million.
Computacenter raised its interim dividend by 3.1% to 23.3 pence per share from 22.6p.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Norris said: "Our performance in the first half largely reflected the expected normalisation of Technology Sourcing volumes against an exceptionally strong comparative. At the same time, we have executed well against our strategy by adding seven 'podium' customers in the half, broadening our customer base in North America. Professional Services has also delivered good growth, leveraging our experience in Germany into other markets."
On June 30, the product order backlog stood at GBP175.6 million, up 23% from GBP142.7 million last year. This was driven by "notable" Technology Sourcing wins in the North American market.
"We have made an encouraging start to Q3 and, consistent with our July trading update, we expect stronger momentum in the second half underpinned by the size of our committed product order backlog and wider pipeline of opportunities. While we are mindful of the backdrop of continuing geopolitical and macro uncertainty across our markets we continue to expect to make progress in FY 2024 as a whole on a constant currency basis," Norris commented.
The ongoing share buyback programme announced in July will return GBP200 million to shareholders with a total of GBP66.1 million returned so far to date.
Computacenter shares were down 4.5% at 2,472.00 each in London on Monday afternoon.
By Elijah Dale, Alliance News reporter
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