Computacenter Regulatory News (CCC)

10 Jul 2007 07:00

Computacenter PLC10 July 2007 Computacenter plc Pre-Close Trading Update Computacenter is today holding an Investor and Analyst conference call toprovide an update on trading for the six months to 30 June 2007. Group operating profit for H1 2007, prior to the amortisation of acquiredintangibles, is expected to be in line with the same period last year. Interestincome will be below last year due to the £75 million share buyback, which tookplace on 3 July 2006 and the spend of approximately £35 million on acquisitions.Net borrowings at the period end prior to customer-specific financing areexpected to be circa £20 million. In the UK, a disappointing performance was delivered in H1 in both Products andServices. The Product Division, whilst showing some recovery in Q2 compared toQ1, has traded below 2006 levels. The UK Services Division has suffered priceerosion on renewals and the loss of some key contracts in 2006, as previouslyexplained. However, this was offset by stronger performances in Germany andFrance. Computacenter Germany has performed well with record first half profits in H12007. We expect this improvement to continue throughout the year with marketconditions remaining strong. The good progress in France in Q1 has continued through the second quarter. Theperformance of the business continues to improve, although it is stillloss-making. The Board also announces that Ron Sandler, currently Executive Chairman, willwith immediate effect become non-executive Chairman of Computacenter. Computacenter will report its Interim results on 11 September 2007. Enquiries: Computacenter plcMike Norris, Chief Executive 01707 631601Tony Conophy, Finance Director 01707 631515Tessa Freeman, PR Manager 01707 631514 Tulchan Communications 020 7353 4200Andrew GrantStephen Malthouse This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange