Computacenter does well in UK but Germany and France weigh

17th Jul 2014 09:57

IT infrastructure services supplier Computacenter reported strong UK trading but said it was facing tough markets in Germany and a need for cost cuts in France.The group's UK revenue rose 14% in the first half of the year with services revenue increasing by 8% and supply chain revenue increasing by 18%, although the latter's second quarter growth of 9% was weaker than the first three months.Computacenter said it was pleased with the UK performance, particularly growth in its service business.The group renewed a major contract in its contractual services business in the second quarter and was at the exclusive stage, subject to contract, on a major new contract."We are also optimistic about our pipeline for the remainder of the year," it said in a trading update for the six months to June 30th.First half group revenue rose 2% on an as-reported basis and 4% in constant currency.German revenue fell by 10% in constant currency during the first half, with a 2% increase in services revenue and 16% reduction in supply chain revenue.The group said it was seeing progress in its German service business and was starting to win contracts.It added that it was uncompetitive in France and needed to cut costs to improve profits, which would incur a one-off restructuring charge of £9m - at the top end of expectations.Shares fell 6.5p or 1.04% to 617p.PW