International ICT group Datatec says its trading and underlying earnings continue to improve but, growth is slowing in a weakening economic environment as the fallout of the eurozone economic problems has spread globally.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday (18 July), Datatec released its interim management statement for the period March to end-June 2012\u201a and said that\u00a0based on current exchange rates and trading conditions, its\u00a0forecasts for the financial year remain unchanged.<\/p>\n
On 16 May\u201a Datatec published forecasts for the financial year ending February 2013\u201a for revenue of between $5.5 billion and $5.8 billion\u201a profit after tax of approximately $104 million\u201a underlying earnings per share of approximately 55 US cents\u201a and earnings and headline earnings per share of approximately 50 US cents.<\/p>\n
The group noted that gross margins have come under some pressure, particularly within
\nWestcon in developed markets, but added that both the Logicalis and\u00a0Consulting Services divisions have performed “relatively robustly”.<\/p>\n
From a regional perspective Asia and Latin America remain resilient,\u00a0Europe is still weak and the US has slowed, the group said.<\/p>\n
“Underlying earnings have increased year-on-year, but unrealised\u00a0foreign exchange losses (versus unrealised gains in the comparative\u00a0period) have impacted operating profit growth,” Datatec said.<\/p>\n
Jens Montanana, CEO said:\u00a0“The diversity of our business streams and global footprint has once\u00a0again enabled the group to improve revenues and underlying earnings
\nin a difficult environment.<\/p>\n
“Although the outlook has become more uncertain, the defensive nature
\nof our business model continues to be a strong asset.”<\/p>\n
Westcon<\/strong><\/p>\n The ICT group said that Westcon has reported revenue growth across all regions, but has had a\u00a0relatively challenging start to the year compared to the recent past.<\/p>\n Overall gross margins have fallen slightly with margin pressures in\u00a0Europe and North America outweighing margin expansion in developing\u00a0market regions, particularly Latin America.<\/p>\n “Operational profitability has not grown in line with revenues in the\u00a0comparative period, as a result of slightly lower gross margins and\u00a0the impact of unrealised foreign exchange losses,” Datatec said.<\/p>\n On 2 July 2012 Datatec announced Westcon\u00b4s acquisition of Latin\u00a0American and Iberian multinational security, virtualisation and data\u00a0centre distributor Afina Group. The deal is expected to be earnings\u00a0enhancing and expands Westcon’s presence in Latin America, the It also broadens and deepens\u00a0Westcon’s product portfolio, adding and enhancing relationships with\u00a0strategic vendors such as VMware, Riverbed, Symantec and Citrix. The Two additional contingent\u00a0cash payments of up to EUR5 million each will be payable in 2013 and 2014\u00a0subject to Afina meeting certain EBITDA performance conditions.<\/p>\n On 16 July 2012 Westcon acquired the Austrian value added security\u00a0distributor Triple AcceSSS expanding its security business footprint\u00a0in Europe and strengthening Westcon\u00b4s relationships with security\u00a0vendors such as Trend Micro, F5, Blue Coat and BlueCat.<\/p>\n Logicalis<\/strong><\/p>\n Datatec pointed out that Logicalis has had a relatively strong start to the year, reporting “The UK performance has been good despite weak economic conditions.\u00a0The US and Asia Pacific regions also reported improvements. Local\u00a0market challenges in Argentina and the impact of a weaker Brazilian\u00a0Real have impacted reported results in an otherwise still resilient\u00a0Latin America,” the group said.<\/p>\n On 1 June 2012 Logicalis acquired Corpnet, a Brisbane-based provider\u00a0of IT solutions including data centre, cloud and managed services\u00a0solutions, to the Queensland, Australia mid-sized and enterprise\u00a0markets. The consideration comprised $2.7 million on completion with an\u00a0additional potential earn-out payment of $0.6 million.<\/p>\n Consulting Services<\/strong><\/p>\n The Consulting Services division has continued the improved\u00a0performance of last year. Increased revenue and profitability at\u00a0Analysys Mason have outweighed the impact of a more challenging sales\u00a0environment at both Intact and Via Group.<\/p>\n Datatec expects to release its interim results for the six months to August 2012 on Wednesday\u201a October 17.<\/p>\n Related\u00a0article<\/strong><\/p>\n Westcon acquires Triple Accesss IT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Westcon acquires Afina for EUR50m<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Datatec takes ownership of Westcon Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Diversification sees Datatec push for double-digit growth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nCaribbean, Europe, and North Africa.<\/p>\n
\nTransaction was settled by the initial payment of EUR30 million in cash\u00a0and EUR10 million worth of Datatec shares.<\/p>\n
\noverall revenue and operating profit growth over the Comparative\u00a0Period.<\/p>\n