Profit expectations for Computacenter were repeatedly upgraded last year, but these figures still beat forecasts. The bulk of that growth was driven by cost savings, with over £30m stripped out of overheads.
UK trading has proven to be strong, too, and should be buoyed further by the award of a five-year contract worth £100m with a major retail bank. Computacenter now supports the IT systems for one-third of all UK bank branches. Business has been secured with Schroders, BP and Severn Trent as well. In all, Computacenter now enjoys repeat income worth over £500m a year from its existing service contracts.
The German operation pushed profits higher, despite a slowdown in product sales and continued margin pressure. While in France trading was more subdued with the business still loss-making, costs there have been cut and a major contract with the army extended. Meanwhile, a major Enterprise Resource Planning initiative is under way - this is on target and will help utilise resources more efficiently. Two acquisitions were also completed in November, and will deliver a profit contribution this year.
Panmure Gordon expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £62.1m and EPS of 30.1p.
COMPUTACENTER (CCC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 317p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 485m | |
| TOUCH: | 315-319p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 345p | LOW: 109p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.5% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 221p* | NET DEBT: | £37.3m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2.29 | 34.0 | 10.9 | 7.5 |
| 2006 | 2.27 | 32.9 | 11.0 | 7.5 |
| 2007 | 2.38 | 42.1 | 18.5 | 8.0 |
| 2008 | 2.56 | 39.5 | 24.7 | 8.2 |
| 2009 | 2.50 | 48.4 | 25.7 | 11.0 |
| % change | -2 | +23 | +4 | +34 |
Ex-div: 17 Mar Payment: 1 Apr *Includes intangible assets of £73m, or 48p a share | ||||
