Business
Trading Update and Return of Value – 26 July 2024
Trading Update and Return of Value – 26 July 2024.
About this update from Computacenter Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nComputacenter plc\nIncorporated in England\nRegistration number: 03110569\nLEI: 549300XSXUZ1I19DB105\nISIN: GB00BV9FP302\n \nComputacenter plc\nTrading Update and Return of Value - 26 July 2024\nComputacenter plc (\"Computacenter\" or the \"Group\"), a leading independent technology and services provider, today provides a trading update for the half year ended 30 June 2024 (\"the half\"), based on preliminary unaudited financial information, ahead of announcing and commencing a return of value by way of a share buyback.\nTrading update\nAs anticipated, Technology Sourcing volumes normalised during the first half versus an exceptionally strong H1 2023. We delivered a solid underlying performance in Germany and North America whereas in the UK, demand for hardware has been weaker than expected, with customers exercising greater caution and purchasing decisions taking longer to conclude. Encouragingly, our committed product order backlog has grown significantly since the start of the year driven by notable Technology Sourcing wins in North America.\nAs previously guided, given the exceptionally strong comparatives, H1 2024 is lower than the prior year equivalent and we now expect H1 2024 adjusted profit before tax1 to be approximately £87m (H1 2023: £121.8m) including c.£2m of negative currency translation. This result has been impacted by the timing of fulfilment of certain large orders in North America which have now moved into H2, as well as the phasing of our strategic initiatives investments where we spent an additional c.£6m versus the same period in 2023, with our expectation for full year investment unchanged at £28m to £30m.\nLooking to the full year, we expect stronger momentum in the second half underpinned by the size of our committed product order backlog and wider pipeline of opportunities. While we are mindful of the backdrop of continuing geopolitical and macro uncertainty across our markets we continue to expect to make progress in FY 2024 as a whole at constant currency. At current exchange rates we expect a negative c.£7m translation impact on adjusted profit before tax in the full year.\nWe will publish our half year results for the year ended 30 June 2024 on Monday 9 September 2024.\nShare buyback programme\nGiven the Group's strong positive adjusted net funds position and currently anticipated capital ...