(Alliance News) - Computacenter PLC said on Wednesday its 40th year brought in higher profit as revenue grew in nearly all segments.
The Hatfield, England-based computer services firm said pretax profit increased by 20% to GBP248.0 million in 2021 from GBP206.6 million the prior year, in part due to an improvement in service margins following a reduction in Covid-related costs.
Revenue for the year was up 24% at GBP6.73 billion from GBP5.44 billion in 2020, as industrial and "hyperscale" - meaning data centre-based - customers increased their spend.
Shares in the FTSE 250-listed company were up 6.0% to 2,794.00 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
Computacenter reported trading across all major geographies was strong, with revenue in constant currency up by 9% in the UK and by 12% in Germany. North America revenue grew by 28% organically, and more than doubled in total following the acquisition of Pivot Technology Solutions Inc.
The only exception was France, where revenue declined by 6.6% on weaker market conditions and lower customer spend.
Computacenter proposed a final dividend of 49.4 pence. This brings the total dividend to 66.3p, a 31% increase on the payout of 50.7p a year before.
The company said acquisitions in North America and Western Europe have increased its addressable market for 2022, and investment into sales force, recruitment and systems leave it poised to capitalise on "buoyant market conditions".
It notes that due to a historic outperformance in profit in the first half of 2021, it will be a tough comparator for the coming period.
"The demand drivers for our business look strong as we enter 2022," said Chair Peter Ryan.
"In concrete terms, there is more demand for technology and services to support the vast array of transformation projects and this, combined with our business momentum, makes us believe that 2022 will be another year of continued progress."
By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com
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