Computacenter ups profit guidance as hails "excellent" third quarter

Computacenter PLC said it performed better than expected in the third quarter, and it now forecasts annual profit ahead of consensus.

Computacenter shares rose 7.1% to 4,916.00 pence each in London on Monday morning, the best large-cap performer.

The Hatfield, England-based technology services provider expects adjusted pretax profit of at least £425 million for 2026, ahead of company-compiled consensus of £387.1 million.

In last month's half-year results, Computacenter predicted adjusted pretax profit to be "significantly ahead of current market expectations", which at the time stood at £340.9 million. It said profit would be "no less than £380 million".

In 2025, adjusted pretax profit amounted to £272.0 million, so it now expects growth of at least 56%.

Computacenter operates a Technology Sourcing arm, where it provides hardware and device procurement services. Among its divisions are also Professional Services, offering strategy, advisory and application services, and Managed Services, providing remote user support.

"Following a very strong first half performance we continued to execute well, delivering an excellent Q3 performance ahead of our expectations. Group Technology Sourcing revenue continued to grow strongly, primarily driven by hyperscale and neocloud customers in North America and the UK. Group services revenue was also ahead of last year, as strong organic growth in Professional Services, also driven by North America, more than offset a decline in Managed Services revenue," Computacenter said.

"By geography, North America continued its strong momentum, with record levels of project completions, benefiting both Technology Sourcing and Professional Services, while also increasing its committed product order backlog. The UK also achieved excellent growth in Technology Sourcing and solid growth in Professional Services."

Among Computacenter's partners are chipmaker Nvidia Corp, Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Web Services division and cloud infrastructure company Oracle Corp.

Away from North America, the company said "Germany delivered a robust underlying performance" in the third quarter.

"As highlighted at the half year, we continue to take action in Germany to improve efficiency and align our resources with demand," the firm added.

It ended the third quarter with a record committed product order backlog of £12.6 billion, climbing from £9.3 billion at the end of June.

It said the profit guidance came on the back of the promising third quarter and a "strong" start to the fourth.

Computacenter said it will next issue a trading update on January 28.

For the half-year ended June, it reported pretax profit surged 95% to £142.6 million from £73.2 million a year earlier. Revenue jumped 72% to £6.85 billion from £3.99 billion.

Shares have surged 81% over the past 12 months and it joined the FTSE 100 in a June index review. Heading into Monday's trading update, the stock had shed 15% during October, caught up in investor concern over the sustainability of spending in the artificial intelligence sector.

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