Tech Data’s European revenues tumbled the first quarter and CEO Rich Hume expects things to get worse this year.
Tech Data was doing well worldwide and Europe was the only region to under perform. Revenues in Europe slumped by eight percent year on year to $4.3 billion.
Across the pond the Americas segment was meanwhile elevated by a five percent year on year revenue boost to $3.8 billion, while Asia Pacific sales jumped by 15 percent to $310 million.
Europe is Tech Data’s largest revenue region and provides just over half its global revenues.
This meant that global revenues slumped by two per cent to $8.4 billion for the quarter while sales grew by three per cent on a constant currency basis.
European boss Patrick Zammit cited Brexit, a highly competitive landscape and political unrest as key headwinds for the distributor’s European business. CEO Rich Hume meanwhile pointed to a “slowing” economy in Europe during the firm’s Q4 earnings call.
Hume said he was pleased with Tech Data’s performance, pointing to the firm’s double-digit earnings per share growth and positive cash flow.
“Our worldwide teams executed well in the quarter, despite market uncertainty. Looking ahead, although IT market growth has slowed somewhat from the year-ago levels, demand continues to be solid, and we remain positive on the overall IT spending outlook,” he said.
