Softcat expanding customer base

Softcat’s focus on gaining new customers and reaping more from those relationships helped deliver a strong first half for the channel player.

The firm has delivered a H1 update with climbs in revenue and operating profits for the six months ended 31 January. Revenue climbed by 21% to hit £434m and operating profits were up by 40% to £33.9m.

Softcat added 620 customers during the period and increased the gross profit coming out of those relationships. It was also able to report that growth came from all offices, segments and product lines.

During the six months the firm expanded its London and Leeds offices and indicated that a further UK office would be opening this calendar year.

The Irish business has also expanded, with a headcount now totaling 15, and the firm has been actively gaining accreditations and opening up relationships in the country.

Graeme Watt, CEO of Softcat, highlighted its strategy of gaining fresh customers as one that had been working in the first half.

“We added more than 600 new customers in the period while gross profit per customer grew by almost 20%.  Those metrics extended our run of unbroken year-on-year income and profit growth to a 54th quarter,” he said.

"It’s been another period of very strong performance for the Company, characterised by additional market share gains.  We have maintained our ongoing and long-term investment in building scale and creating new capabilities, and this has delivered further success against both of our simple strategic goals of doing more business with our existing customers and winning new customers," he added.

Investors will have taken further cheer from Watt's comments about the second half, with the firm now expecting the full year numbers to be, "marginally ahead of previous expectations".