Half-year gross profits up 11% at IT infrastructure firm

IT infrastructure technology and services business Softcat saw gross profits rise by 11% to £196.5m in the half year to the end of January despite a 9& fall in revenues.

Operating profits were up 6% to £66.7m, a new half-year record for the firm.

Revenues fell by 9% t0  £467.2m due to an anticipated fall in hardware revenue, which a 4% rise in software and services revenue could not offset.

The firm continues to expand as it seeks a greater market share. The firm issued full year guidance of double-digit gross profit and high-single digit operating profit growth.

Chief executive Graham Charlton said, “The breadth, depth and progressive nature of our offering, delivered via our exceptional people and their relentless dedication to customer service, remains a compelling proposition. We continue to execute against our key objectives to win new customers and sell more to existing customers.

“The future opportunity in our industry remains incredibly exciting. AI, data management and cybersecurity, amongst other technologies, continue to drive rapid transformation in technology, and this will generate growth across all areas from the cloud and datacentre to the edge.

“These incremental tailwinds to an already growing market play perfectly into our comprehensive offering at a time when customers need broader and more integrated support from their partners than ever before. This is a great opportunity for us to further increase our market share and we have therefore continued to invest for future growth, increasing headcount by 14.6%.”