Softcat making progress through first quarter of 2021

Channel player issues trading update to cover its progress in the first quarter of its fiscal year

The noises coming out of the largest corporate resellers in the channel continue to be positive, with Softcat indicating that the three months to 31 October were on track and delivered growth.

In a trading update for its first fiscal quarter of 2021, the channel player revealed that the momentum it had created in its last fiscal year has kept going.

The update revealed the firm had been able to grow revenues and operating profit year on year, as well as hitting recruitment targets. More details will come out with the full numbers.

The board also noted that growth was continuing into its second quarter, a period that will include a second lockdown, although not as rigid as the first, and uncertainty as the Brexit deadline gets ever closer.

Softcat CEO Graeme Watt acknowledged that it was a difficult time to predict market conditions, but said the business was in a strong position.

“We’ve performed well during the first quarter, seeing good results from both corporate and public sector segments, but are mindful that there is still a long way to go. We remain focused on the well-being of our people and supporting our customers,” he said.

Watt has been clear in recent interviews with MicroScope that there are reasons for the tech sector to be optimistic going into 2021. Last week, the firm shared the results of its tech priorities survey, which showed customers were investing in security, user computing, cloud capabilities, emerging technologies and collaboration tools.

“It is clear from our 2020 Business tech priorities report that the importance of enterprise IT has truly been solidified, accelerating demand and giving rise to innovative use cases. The future of enterprise IT is looking brighter,” said Richard Wyn Griffith, managing director of Softcat.

Softcat’s first-quarter trading statement comes just a few weeks after the firm released its 2020 full-year results, which showed an 8.6% increase in revenues to pass the £1bn mark, with operating profits also improving by 10.9% year on year to £93.7m for the 12 months ended 31 July 2020.

Those numbers included the trading period during the worst of the first lockdown and the firm saw its customer base and average gross profit from each relationship grow over the fiscal year.

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