IT infrastructure supplier and valued-added reseller Computacenter (CCC) topped the mid-cap leader board on Friday 8 September with the shares jumping more than 13% to £24.46 after the firm delivered a better-than-expected result for the first half to the end of June.

Revenue increased 27% to £3.58 billion while GII (gross invoiced income) jumped 30% to £5.16 billion despite a ‘challenging’ macroeconomic backdrop.

The company said it had grown ‘significantly’ faster than its competitors and the market as a whole and therefore gained market share.

Adjusted pre-tax profit increased 13.9% to £122.8 million. Peel Hunt said the better-than-expected interims would lead to a 2% upgrade to forecasts in 2023 and beyond.

ROBUST DEMAND

Computacenter chief executive Mike Norris commented: ‘Without doubt we have benefited from the fact our target market, the largest customers, have proved the most resilient and continued to invest in technology.

‘Additionally, we have grown our share within our existing customers and also acquired new customers.’

Reassuring investors, the company added, ‘We believe that IT spend remains strategic to our customers and will be amongst the last expenditure categories to be retrenched if the forecast global-economic recession becomes a reality.’

‘We are as excited and optimistic about the future as we have ever been.’

INDUSTRY SUPPLY RETURNING TO NORMAL

The company said the industry was returning to normal supply levels which allowed it to significantly reduce inventories and generate more cash.

Cash from operations jumped to £116.5 million from £8.1 million in the same period last year leaving the firm with cash and cash equivalents on the balance sheet of £301.6 million, up from £193.5 million.

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The interim dividend was increased by 2.3% to 22.6p per share, in line with the company's policy of paying out a third of the prior year’s total dividend at the first half.

Computacenter has returned £919 million to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks since floating on the stock market in 1998. 

The board said it was committed to managing the cash position for shareholders and would look to return up to 10% of the company’s market capitalisation as soon as cash reserves were replenished.

It anticipates this happening by the end of 2024 at the latest, assuming no more acquisitions are made in that time frame. A current market value of £2.65 billion implies a payout of £265 million.

EXPERT VIEW

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, observed: ‘While often seen as being at the more prosaic end of the tech space, there was nothing boring about IT infrastructure seller Computacenter’s first half earnings.

‘Revenue up 27% is an impressive showing, potentially even ‘extraordinary’ as the company rather immodestly dubbed it, given the difficult macro backdrop. It suggests the company is making market share gains which is encouraging for its future prospects.

Disclaimer: Financial services company AJ Bell owns Shares magazine. The author of the article (Martin Gamble) and the editor of the article (Ian Conway) own shares in AJ Bell.

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