Computacenter targets boosted by pretax profit rise

IT firm Computacenter PLC said it was on track for the year after product sales in Germany and France and continued overall demand for services delivered a 25 percent rise in first-half pretax profit.

The company, which counts Lloyds Banking Group as a customer, posted adjusted pretax profit of 26.6 million pounds on group revenue, including acquisitions of 1.37 billion pounds, up 5.9 percent.

The strong contribution from France and Germany helped offset a weaker product performance in the UK, it said.

"While much remains to be done and economic uncertainty persists, we remain on track to achieve the Board's expectations for 2011," Chief Executive Mike Norris said.

Growth in Germany would slow in the second half against a tougher comparative a year ago, he said, but the UK should deliver an improved performance.

"Overall therefore, we are unlikely to see the same percentage of growth at the group level, as experienced in the first half," he said.

The group is paying an interim dividend of 4.5 pence a share, up 28.6 percent on the payout a year ago.

Analysts at Investec, who predict pretax profit of 73.8 million pounds for the year, up from 66.1 million, said the first-half results demonstrated growth and resilience.

"The decline in UK product sales (a few large customers reducing spend) was compensated at the profit line by a strong cost focus and managed services margin expansion," they said.