Computacenter's headline numbers are striking. Revenue rose by 72% in the first half, to £6.85bn, while adjusted operating profit climbed 87% to £153m. Adjusted profit before tax also rose 87%, to £152m, and adjusted diluted earnings per share almost doubled to 101.9p.
Computacenter buys technology from manufacturers and supplies it to companies and public bodies, often alongside installation, consulting and support. A large hardware contract can therefore produce an enormous amount of sales but only a relatively thin amount of profit.
Gross invoiced income, which better captures the value of technology passing through the business, rose 58% to £8.93bn. Gross profit rose a much more modest 31% to £658m. The gross margin consequently fell from 12.6% to 9.6%.
The squeeze is not necessarily bad news. Much of it reflects an intentional expansion into high-volume, lower-margin infrastructure work for hyperscalers and "neocloud" operators. In other words, Computacenter is earning a smaller percentage on each pound of sales but processing vastly more pounds. The test is whether that volume continues to translate into operating profit. So far it has.
North America is doing most of the heavy lifting. Revenue there jumped 84% to £3.84bn and adjusted operating profit rose 141% to £118.5m, or 148% at constant exchange rates. The region generated 62% of group operating profit before central costs, against 44% a year earlier.
That represents a remarkable change in Computacenter's centre of gravity. Founded in 1981 and floated in London in 1998, the company spent much of its history as a primarily European IT supplier. Its push into America accelerated with the acquisition of FusionStorm in 2018 and Pivot Technology Solutions in 2020, deals that greatly expanded its product-sourcing and services capabilities across the United States.
That bet is now paying off. Demand for servers, networking equipment and other infrastructure used in large data centres has turned what was once an expansion market into Computacenter's biggest profit engine.
Not all growth is equal
The British business is enjoying a revival too. UK revenue more than doubled to £1.51bn and adjusted operating profit rose 53% to £26.4m, helped by large infrastructure projects. Germany was more subdued: revenue rose 21%, but adjusted operating profit fell 11% to £43m as service margins weakened and restructuring costs arrived earlier than expected. Western Europe remained lossmaking, albeit less so than last year.
The order book gives the current boom some visibility. Computacenter finished June with £9.3bn of committed product orders, more than four times the level a year earlier. North America alone accounted for almost £6.94bn.
Management now expects adjusted pre-tax profit for 2026 to be at least £380m. Before the results, company-compiled analyst consensus stood at £340.9m, with even the highest estimate at £354m.
There are caveats. Inventory reached £1.26bn, compared with £483m at the end of 2025, as equipment accumulated for large customer projects. That contributed to an £83m operating cash outflow and a £139m free-cash outflow in the first half. Computacenter says nearly all the inventory is tied to committed orders rather than speculative stock, which reduces the concern but does not eliminate the working-capital burden created by rapid growth.
The balance sheet remains comfortable. Adjusted net funds stood at £309m after £124m of acquisition spending. That leaves Computacenter with room to invest, though the business is consuming much more cash as it scales.
The share price now reflects much of this transformation. Computacenter's market capitalisation has almost doubled this year to roughly £5.9bn. On current estimates, the shares trade at about 25 times expected 2026 earnings, falling to 22 times 2027 earnings. Enterprise value is around 12 times forecast 2026 EBITDA, compared with less than seven times in 2025.
Computacenter is on a positive trajectory: It entered the FTSE 100 in June, its American operations have become vastly more important, and infrastructure spending has broken a period in which group revenue had been relatively stagnant. Profits are rising much faster than gross profit, the backlog is at a record and guidance has been lifted well above previous expectations.
