Computacenter on track to meet revised targets

Information technology solutions provider Computacenter said additional start-up costs in the first half of the year meant profits were down slightly year-on-year.

Group adjusted profit before tax in the six months ended June 30th fell to £24.0m from £26.6m the year before. Statutory profit before tax tumbled to £20.8m from £26.2m in the corresponding period of 2011.

Group revenue rose 4.2% to £1.42bn from £1.37bn in the first half of last year.

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Adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of 11.7p was down from 12.9p the year before. The interim dividend has been hiked to 5p from 4.5p last year.

"Our Services revenue grew materially in the first half of the year, reflecting our strategic emphasis on growing our Contractual Services base. While we were encouraged to see double digit organic revenue growth in Services in all countries, we must now replicate the successful contract win integration achieved in the UK across the group," declared Mike Norris, Chief Executive of Computacenter, adding that replication would not be a a simple or quick process.

"The new Services business momentum we have built in our UK Services business looks set to continue into the second half and beyond. We are likely to see slower top line Services growth outside the UK as we put our processes in order, but this should improve our margins. We remain on track with the board's revised expectations for the year," Norris said.

JH