Computacenter plc (LON:CCC), a leading independent technology partner trusted by large corporate and public sector organisations, has published a trading update, based on unaudited financial information, for the period to 30 June 2020.
The Group’s adjusted profit before tax in the first half of 2020 has turned out to be substantially ahead of the same period last year.
Whilst most of our industrial clients have been quiet, elsewhere there has been a surge in demand for IT equipment to enable home working which has considerably helped our performance, but this is only part of the story. Computacenter’s customers have turned to our Services offerings and the skills of our people at what has been a challenging and demanding time for corporate IT functions. This is testament to the strength of our customer base; the relationships we have with those customers; and the value we deliver to them.
A reforecast of the second half of the year has been reviewed by the Board, which included the first confirmation that the Group’s expected adjusted profitability in the second half of the year should be much improved on the forecast considered at the time of our Q1 2020 Trading Update on 23 April. This reforecast has provided better insight and improved clarity for the Board and, coupled with the very pleasing first half result, indicates a reduction in uncertainty in our markets for the second half of 2020. This allows the Board to provide meaningful guidance at this time concerning the second half of the year, notwithstanding the ongoing, and unpredictable, COVID-19 crisis.
Whilst for obvious reasons 2020 is a difficult year to predict, given the performance of the first half, which is behind us, the demand for our Services, the current Managed Services opportunity pipeline and the strength of our customer base, the Board believe that 2020, as a whole, will be a year of material progress for Computacenter, following a record-breaking 2019.
Computacenter’s Board acknowledge, as is the case every year, that there is still a significant amount to do in the second half of the year and we look forward to giving more detail at the announcement of the Group’s Interim Results on Wednesday 9 September 2020.
