Revenues at British tech giant Computacenter have passed £4 billion for the first time.
The FTSE 250 firm, which provides IT infrastructure services and solutions to large corporate and public sector organisations, grew total revenues by £559 million, a jump of 14.7 per cent.
Pre-tax profits excluding the acquisition of US firm FusionStorm climbed 11.3 per cent to £118.2m,
The public company, which employs around 15,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, also saw excellent revenue and profit growth in the UK of 9.7 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.
“2018 was a record year in revenue, adjusted operating profit and adjusted diluted earnings per share for the group,” said CEO Mike Norris.
“We have also laid foundations for further growth in the years ahead. We have invested in the physical infrastructure that enables our technology sourcing, increased our services capability and expanded our geographical footprint through acquisitions.”
It marks 10 consecutive years of growth in adjusted earnings per share while the company returned £100m of cash to shareholders.
“We reduced the number of shares in circulation by 6.97 per cent, through a ‘return of value tender’ offer of £100m,” Norris continued.
“Even after these substantial investments, Computacenter finished the year with a strong balance sheet and a cash surplus, which underpins our confidence in the future.
“While the technology sourcing success of last year creates a difficult comparison in 2019, particularly in the first half, lower services margins in 2018 give us a significant opportunity to improve. We also expect a profit contribution from our acquired business in the USA.
“As we look out further into the future, we remain enthusiastic about our customers’ desire to enhance the digital experience, grow their network capacity, modernise their infrastructure and enhance their competitiveness, by investing in technology.”
Chairman Greg Lock has stepped down after 11 years in the role and will be succeeded by Peter Ryan.
Computacenter, which launched direct operations in the USA two years ago and has aspirations to grow that market, said 2019 will see the integration of FusionStorm into its offering.