Softcat’s share price climbed more than 8 per cent following a positive half-year update from the IT infrastructure specialist.

Graham Charlton, CEO of the FTSE 250-listed company, described the results for the six months to January 31st, 2026, as ‘terrific’.

Highlights included a 33 per cent increase in gross invoiced income to £2,008.6m and a 22 per cent rise in gross profit to £269.9m.

Softcat’s underlying operating profit growth in the first six months of the financial year was ahead of the board’s expectations, resulting in a spike in its share price by more than 8 per cent to 1,252p.

Expectations are now for high single-digit growth in underlying operating profit in FY2026, up from low single-digit previously.

AI boost

Softcat has benefited from its investment in AI and its acquisition of Oakland Group Services.

Softcat’s CEO Graham Charlton said: “Softcat delivered terrific progress in the first half, with growth in gross profit and underlying operating profit well ahead of expectations alongside excellent cash generation.

“This reflects the benefits of ongoing investment in our offering over the past few years, as well as sharp execution during the current period, and the benefits we are seeing on customer demand for AI-enabled infrastructure and our own operational transformation.

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“The trusted advice and exceptional customer service we provide, underpinned by the broadest and deepest technical skills and capabilities in our market, have never been more relevant and I’m delighted with the momentum we’re carrying into the second half.

“AI is reshaping customer priorities at pace, and organisations of all sizes are now prioritising the building of the data, infrastructure and security foundations needed to deploy it effectively and at scale.

“Given the breadth of our offering, these trends play directly to our strengths, with AI increasing customer demand across storage and compute, through the network and onto devices, as well as creating the need for greater security and governance.

“We are further benefitting from the acquisition of Oakland which has improved our capability in data, automation and AI consulting, enabling us to engage earlier in customers’ transformation journeys.

“The strength of our performance enables us to invest in our own systems, data and digital platforms. This is a journey we began several years ago to transform our operations, putting us in prime position as advances in data analytics and AI open up significant business model transformation opportunities.

“The market is still only in the early stages of the AI adoption cycle, creating significant long-term opportunities for Softcat.

“With a compelling proposition aligned to the technologies that matter to our customers, and with the skills and capabilities demanded by our vendors, we remain in the very best position to deliver sustainable growth and further market share gains.”

  • Softcat’s share price was 1,252p at 1.30pm on March 18.