IT infrastructure and services outfit Softcat posted a 41 percent rise in first half profits, as it won more customers, and forecast a full-year result ‘marginally ahead’ of previous expectations.
Revenue jumped 21 percent to £434 million. Softcat declared an interim dividend of 4.5p per share, up 36 percent on-year.
Customer numbers grew by 6.5 pe cent, a little slower than the 6.7 percent growth posted the last time round. Softcat has been benefiting from demand for hybrid cloud computing, which is a mix of private and public cloud services, as well as increased digitalisation in businesses and security solutions, amid stricter data protection requirements and increased scrutiny.
‘The results reflect the company’s continued ability to gain an increasing share of the market, delivering both very strong profit growth and excellent cash generation”, Softcat said.
Chief executive Graeme Watt said it had been “another period of very strong performance for the company, characterised by additional market share gains’.
‘We have maintained our ongoing and long-term investment in building scale and creating new capabilities, and this has delivered further success against both of our simple strategic goals of doing more business with our existing customers and winning new customers.
‘We added more than 600 new customers in the period while gross profit per customer grew by almost 20 percent.
‘Those metrics extended our run of unbroken year-on-year income and profit growth to a 54th quarter.
‘The board expects a full year outcome marginally ahead of previous expectations.”
Graeme is obviously very pleased with himself.
