Computacenter rallies after 'pleasing' trading update

(Sharecast News) - IT services outfit Computacenter said on Friday that it has seen a "pleasing" level of trading across the group in the first quarter, with both revenue and profitability ahead of the prior year.Computacenter said that on a like-for-like basis before the positive impact of acquisitions, it was trading above its original expectations as the first half of the year presented it with a "challenging comparison".In the UK, revenues grew despite being measured against a large one-off software licence deal in the first quarter of 2018.The company said one of its largest customers in Germany slowed its cloud infrastructure demand substantially, however, its business with other German customers "more than compensated for this". In France, the group witnessed one of its best quarters ever, while Computacenter's US business also recorded growth in revenue.Looking forward, Computacenter told investors that "slightly more challenging economic conditions" did not appear to be deterring its customers from investing in technology."While it is early in the year and much work remains to be done, the board's confidence in the year's performance has increased after the first quarter and we remain firmly on track to deliver on our expectations for the year as a whole," the company said.At 0815 BST, the shares were up 10% to 1,188p. Computacenter