22nd Jan 2021 08:40
(Alliance News) - Computacenter PLC on Friday upgraded its profit forecast again as positive trading continued, with momentum seen since the start of the pandemic showing "no signs of abating" as yet.
The Hatfield, England-based computer services provider said it was expecting an adjusted pretax profit for 2020 in excess of GBP195 million. This adjusted figure excludes exceptional and other adjusting items such as gain or losses on business acquisitions and disposals, as well as amortisation of acquired intangibles.
This follows continued positive trading for the computer services provider through to the end of the year.
Back in December, Computacenter said adjusted pretax profit was "unlikely to be less than" GBP190 million, already a jump from 2019's GBP146.3 million and up from its half-year expectation that the figure was not likely to be less than GBP180 million.
Computacenter on Thursday said revenue grew by 8% in 2020, seeing strong growth in Technology Sourcing product sales into the public sector and services-based customers.
The company's adjusted net funds as at December 31, excluding IFRS16 lease liabilities, totalled approximately GBP188 million. This was a fairly significant rise from GBP137.1 million at the end of 2019. Adjusted net funds includes cash and cash equivalents, other short or other long-term borrowings, and current asset investments. It excludes all finance lease liabilities.
Computacenter attributed this further strengthening of its "usual strong year-end net funds" to customers paying ahead of normal payment cycles. It suspected this was because customers were looking "to avoid sometimes negative interest rates".
"The positive momentum we have seen in trading since the start of the pandemic shows no sign of abating, and our pipelines for both Technology Sourcing and Services are as strong as at any time we have seen in the last year," said Computacenter.
Shares in Computacenter were up 3.5% at 2,540.00 pence in London on Friday morning.
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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