Computacenter has delivered a set of full-year numbers that underline its strong position in the market and its ongoing ability to meet customer expectations.
The channel player revealed that group revenue climbed by 26.9% to £5.2bn for the year to 31 December, with pre-tax profits also improving by 27.5% to come in at £255.6m. Technology sourcing revenue improved by 26.2% and services were also up by 15%.
In terms of a geographic breakdown, the UK delivered a 9.9% increase in revenues, with professional services delivering particularly strong growth as customers started to look for support with post-Covid digital transformation strategies. The firm enjoyed strong services margins thanks to increased utilisation and reduced external contractor costs.
In mainland Europe, the German business produced an 11.6% improvement in revenues, with managed services growth one of the main highlights. Performance in France was described by the firm as “disappointing”, with a slower return in business levels from its large industrial private sector customers. The business had expected to see a downturn in the services side due to the ending of its largest contract in that area.
One of the themes of recent times at Computacenter has been its push deeper into the US, and that region produced organic growth of 27.9%, increasing by 114.3% when the Pivot acquisition was included. Delivering $2.5bn, the North American business now accounts for the largest technology sourcing revenues of any segment within the group. Service revenues are also climbing, up by 27.5% organically, with the business landing its first managed service customers in the region.
Mike Norris, chief executive of Computacenter, was understandably upbeat about the 2021 performance.
“The more than doubling of profits that Computacenter has achieved over the last three years has been the result of deliberate actions that we have previously taken to enable growth,” he said.
“We [are] confident about our target market, competitive position and investment strategy, and we look forward to the future with enthusiasm and excitement”
Mike Norris, Computacenter
“Our acquisitions in North America and Western Europe have materially increased our total addressable market. The organic investments we have made, including the expansion of our salesforce, recruiting technical expertise and investing in systems to enhance our productivity, have been substantial,” added Norris.
“Collectively, these have put us in a position to take advantage of the ongoing buoyant market conditions, as our customers invest in digitising their businesses.”
Channel executives have become all too familiar with the expression “uncertain times”, but despite the ongoing uncertainty, Norris was prepared to talk about the future with a degree of positivity
“Given the profile of our profitability in 2021, we have a more challenging comparison in the first half of 2022 compared to the second, due to the fact that an abnormally high percentage of our profits came in the first half of the year,” he said.
“As a business, we feel as confident as we have ever been about our target market, competitive position and investment strategy, and we look forward to the future in 2022 and beyond with enthusiasm and excitement,” he added.
Earlier today, fellow channel player Bytes Technology Group was also cheering investors, with a trading update on the fiscal year indicating that it was ahead of expectations.
