Computacenter expects profit to exceed expectations

Computacenter product sales have seen a decline

IT services firm Computacenter is expecting its half-year profit to beat market expectations as the company sees growth in contract wins and benefits from its cost-cutting plan.

But tight client budgets mean product sales and services revenue have been affected. Overall revenue decreased by three per cent in the first half of 2009, and was down eight per cent on a constant currency basis.

Computacenter also said it will take an exceptional charge of about £5m this year.

"The trading environment remains very challenging and neither Computacenter nor its customers are immune. It is therefore no surprise that our product sales are down in the period," chief executive Mike Norris said in a statement.

The company also mentioned that most of its planned cost reductions in the UK have been carried out and the plan will have a positive effect on margins.