Investors were likely chuffed with these results from Computacenter (CCC). Rising demand for the group's IT services and equipment sent sales - excluding the impacts of one-off items and the depressed euro - up 7 per cent. Combined with a smaller loss in the troubled French business, that drove adjusted operating profits up 5 per cent to £30m.
Strong trading in the UK and Germany left the group's underlying services and supply chain revenues up 6 and 7 per cent respectively. One standout was the German supply chain business, where brisk trading in networking and data centre equipment drove constant-currency sales up a fifth to €478m (£350m).
Turnover fell at the embattled French operation, but management slashed non-manufacturing overheads by 11 per cent. As a result, the division's adjusted operating loss narrowed by 41 per cent to €4.1m (£3m). Further cost-cutting is on the cards, says Computacenter chief Mike Norris, who plans to shrink the business "from a problem to an irrelevance" over the next 18 months. But he ruled out a full exit, citing the number of international companies headquartered in France.
Broker Investec raised its forecasts and now expects pre-tax profits of £87.8m, giving EPS of 53.2p (2014: £85.9m and 46.8p).
COMPUTACENTER (CCC) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 756p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 928m | |
TOUCH: | 755.5-756p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 780p | LOW: 584p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.6% | PE RATIO: | 9 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 261p* | NET CASH: | £44.9m |
Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p)† |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 1.46 | 18.0 | 7.4 | 6.7 |
2015 | 1.44 | 70.7 | 49.6 | 6.4 |
% change | -1 | +292 | +570 | -4 |
Ex-div: 17 Sep Payment: 16 Oct *Includes intangible assets of £79m, or 64p a share †Adjusted for share consolidation in Feb 2015 |