Press Release

com:20081017:RnsQ0690G
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RNS Number : 0690G  
  
Computacenter PLC  
  
17 October 2008  
  
Interim Management Statement   
  
17 October 2008  
  
Computacenter plc the independent IT services provider today publishes its 
Interim Management Statement based on unaudited financial information for the 
third quarter of 2008.  
  
Financial Performance  
  
The third quarter of 2008 continued the positive trends seen in the second 
quarter with Group revenue ahead of last year. Group revenue growth at 6% 
benefited from the strength of the euro against sterling.  At constant currency 
revenue was flat compared to last year.   
  
UK sales in the quarter were up by 2% to £310.0M and this is now unaffected by 
any acquisition growth. UK operating profit also saw an improvement over the 
same period in 2007.   
  
German revenue in the quarter increased by 4% in local currency and by 18% in 
sterling to £205.0M. Due to continued improvement in Services margin, the before 
tax profit in Germany also continued to increase.  
  
Whilst revenue in France declined 19% in local currency, the benefits of a 
higher services mix and superior product margins resulted in a small profit in 
the period compared with a small loss in the equivalent period last year.  
  
We are pleased with the performance of the business in Q3. While we have not 
been immune from current economic difficulties it has to date been isolated to a 
few specific customers and has not had a material effect on the business as a 
whole. In particular, the Group has incurred a bad debt of £1.2M following the 
bankruptcy of a major financial services client. However it is expected there 
may be other offsetting unrelated gains during Q4 to mitigate this impact.  
  
Group revenue to date in Q4 is in line with Q4 last year.  
  
Financial Position  
  
At the end of the quarter we had net borrowings of £15.2M [£29.7M at 30 June 
2008] before customer specific financing. Including CSF the net debt was £87.0M 
[£95.9M at 30 June 2008]. CSF at £71.8M at 30 September 2008 is pass through 
financing where the Group acts as a lessor and is repaid through the proceeds of 
lease repayments embedded in invoice values to the relevant customers, as 
opposed to the generation of trading profits and the resultant cash flow. 
However, Computacenter retains the credit risk on these customers.  
  
Group Outlook  
  
While the fourth quarter is always the most important period of the year for us 
and there is much uncertainty in the marketplace, we take a great deal of 
encouragement and confidence from the performance of the business throughout the 
last two quarters.   
  
Enquiries:  
  
Computacenter plc  
  
Mike Norris, Chief Executive     01707 631601   
  
Tony Conophy, Finance Director   01707 631515   
  
Tulchan Communications    020 7353 4200  
  
Andrew Grant  
  
Stephen Malthouse  
  
 
This information is provided by RNS  
  
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange  
  
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