ECM.L Share News (ECM)

Sales continue to surge ahead at component distributor Electrocomponents with an improvement of nearly a fifth over the past four months.Overall, sales grew by 19% in the period to January, as the International business grew by around 23% and the UK by around 11%. The US drove the sales in the international division with a 30% lift, Europe sales grew by around 22% and Asia Pacific by around 15%. Group eCommerce revenue rose by around 31% and now represents 50% of Group sales, up from 45% a year ago. Gross margin has been in line with the first half and boosted further down the P&L by operating cost leverage, Electrocomponents said. "We are pleased with progress since the half year end and anticipate that headline profit before tax for the year ending 31 March 2011 will be in line with our expectations," it concluded."We are implementing our strategy at pace with eCommerce reaching 50% of Group revenues for the first time and DesignSpark, our leading online electronics design resource, attracting more than 270,000 visitors since its launch in July," chief executive Ian Mason added.