LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Computacenter on Friday lifted full-year profits guidance after trading continued strongly until the end of the year driven by sales to public sector and services-based customers.
In a trading statement, the company said it now expected adjusted profit before tax for the 12 months to December 31 would be more than £195m.

Group revenue grew by 8% boosted by acquisitions in the US and France last November.

Adjusted net funds, excluding lease liabilities, finished "extremely strongly" at around £188m strengthened still further as customers paid ahead of normal payment cycles, "partly, we suspect, where overseas customers looked to avoid sometimes negative interest rates", Computacenter said.

It added that spending by manufacturing and industrial sectors "slowed materially", while services revenues were broadly flat. Costs were cut as the company spent less on contractors and travel was reduced due to coronavirus restrictions which in turn lifted margins.

"The positive momentum we have seen in trading since the start of the pandemic shows no sign of abating, and our pipelines for both technology sourcing and services are as strong as at any time we have seen in the last year."

"While it is impossible to predict when or how our customers will react as the pandemic reduces its impact on our day to day lives, given the momentum we have in the business which is obviously further aided by our acquisition in the US, we are as confident as we can be at this stage that 2021 will be a year of progress for the group."

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