Computacenter profit rises 25%

30th Aug 2011 07:26

IT infrastructure services and solutions provider Computacenter reported a 25% increase in first half pre-tax profit after strong growth in France and Germany offset a weaker performance in the UK.Group adjusted profit before tax rose to £26.6m for the six months ended 30 June 2011 from £21.3m a year earlier. Revenue, including acquisitions, rose to £1.37bn from £1.29bn before."Strong Product growth in Germany and France and continued growth in Services, across all geographies, helped drive improvement group profitability, offsetting a weaker Product performance in the UK," the group said in a company statement.Computacenter also said a full contribution from recent acquisitions such as French IT supplier Top Info is expected boost second half profit. UK revenue declined 16% after customers reduced IT spending. The reduction however was more than offset by increased IT spending in France and Germany.Chief Executive Mike Norris commented, "While much remains to be done and economic uncertainty persists, we remain on track to achieve the board's expectations for 2011."While the group does not expect the German business to grow at the same rate in the second half of the year, conversely, comparatives in its UK business should be somewhat easier than in the first half, the group added. Computacenter has offered an interim dividend of 4.5p up 29% from the same time last year. CJ