IT giant Atea has admitted its revenues have fallen by a whopping 4.3 per cent to a measly £704.58 million in the last quarter of 2023.
The firm blamed a tough hardware market for the dismal performance, as customers shunned its pricey gadgets and opted for cheaper alternatives.
Hardware sales plummeted by 8.8 per cent compared to the previous year, while the reseller only managed to scrape a 3.2 per cent increase in gross sales to £1.08 billion.
Despite the disappointing results, Atea’s board hiked dividends to £0.52 per share for the 2024 AGM, up from £0.47 last year.
The company claimed its software and services revenues rose by ten and seven per cent, respectively, but that was not enough to offset the hardware slump.
Atea’s boss, Steinar Sønsteby, tried to put a positive spin on the figures, saying he was proud of the record-high sales and operating profit for the full year.
He said shareholders could expect an increased dividend and better market conditions in 2024.
However, analysts have pointed out that Atea’s operating costs soared by 10.6 per cent, and its EBIT dropped by 9.9 per cent in the last quarter.
For 2023, Atea reported gross sales of £3.89 billion, revenue of £2.60 billion, and EBIT of £932.6 million.
The firm boasted of its cash flow from operations, which saw an inflow of £120 million in Q4 2023 and a net cash position of £71.98 million at the end of the quarter.
Atea recently made it to the Corporate Knights’ Global 100 Index of the world’s most sustainable companies for the third time.
