Computacenter plc (LON:CCC), a leading independent technology and services provider, has published a trading update, based on unaudited financial information, for the first quarter to 31 March 2024.
Overview
Computacenter expects to make further progress in 2024 with the performance for the Group during the first quarter broadly in line with our expectations. Germany and North America delivered solid underlying performances while the UK remained challenging.
As anticipated, Technology Sourcing revenue in the first quarter returned to more normal levels versus the same period last year which benefitted from a small number of exceptional contracts. The performance in the quarter largely reflected the normalisation of higher-volume, lower-margin Technology Sourcing contracts in North America and the excellent growth achieved in Germany in the prior year.
Towards the end of the first quarter, we won a significant new Technology Sourcing contract with a large customer in North America which we expect to start fulfilling towards the end of the second quarter. We have a strong and growing pipeline of Technology Sourcing opportunities in North America for the rest of the year.
Services revenue during the quarter, as anticipated, was below the previous year with continued growth in Professional Services outweighed by the expiry of certain Managed Services contracts. At the beginning of the second quarter, we commenced a large four-year public sector contract in the UK which was secured at the start of 2024. Our pipeline of Professional Services opportunities across the Group is also encouraging.
Group outlook
For the full year in 2024 we expect to make further progress, while continuing to invest in future growth. Given the first half comparison we have previously highlighted, adjusted profit before tax for the first half is expected to be below the equivalent in 2023. The strength of our integrated Technology Sourcing and Services model, our committed product order backlog and pipeline of opportunities, give us confidence in delivering a stronger performance with growth weighted to the second half of the year, underpinning our expectations of further progress for the full year.
Capital Markets Day
We will be hosting a Capital Markets Day for investors and analysts in London during the afternoon of 5 June 2024 with a series of presentations from Computacenter’s senior leadership team demonstrating the significant growth opportunities across the Group. For further details please contact [email protected].
Our next trading update is the announcement of our Half Year Results on 9 September 2024.
