Shares in IT hardware distributor and services provider Computacenter (CCC) rose 2% to £27.50 in early trading, bucking the weak trend in UK stocks, as the firm increased its full year earnings forecast following another quarter of better than expected trading.
After a stronger than forecast third quarter, the firm said the fourth quarter to December also topped expectations leading it to raise its estimate for full year pre-tax profits to ‘slightly in excess of £250 million’ compared with consensus forecasts of £236 million.
That would take the firm’s run of unbroken increases in earnings per share to 17 years, in spite of the current supply chain issues and the strength of sterling which has had a negative impact on revenues.
Product sales in the Technology Sourcing division saw ‘continued strength’, which the firm notes was more broadly based than the previous year, while its Services division posted its highest revenue growth in 20 years.
The company’s product order backlog is at an all-time high due to strong underlying demand and customers putting orders in earlier than usual in an attempt to offset the well-publicised delays in the supply chain.
‘While as always there is much to do, we enter 2022 growing in multiple geographies, across product and services, which means we feel the business is well placed for another year of progress’, said chief executive Mike Norris.
