British IT firm Computacenter said it has been stockpiling inventory to sidestep supply chain issues and component shortages that have been plaguing businesses globally.
The Hatfield, Hertfordshire-based company said its product order backlog is at an “all-time high and considerably larger than a year ago”.
Throughout the pandemic, companies have struggled with supply chain issues and shortages of components such as semiconductors. This has led to a supply squeeze in products ranging from cars to personal computers.
Computacenter, which provides IT infrastructure to corporates and public sector organisations, attributed the backlog to increased demand for its products and the supply chain crisis.
The company said it is “currently carrying a higher level of inventory than it would normally as we have used the strength of our balance sheet to support our customers during times of product shortages”.
It added that it expects its inventory levels to normalise as “supply constraints alleviate”.
Computacenter made the comments in an unaudited trading update, adding that it expects profit before tax to be “slightly in excess of £250m” for 2021.
The company said its total revenue grew by 23% last year. It said sales were boosted by a strong final quarter, while it reported a 20% revenue growth in its services business for the year.
The London-listed company was founded in 1981 and has a market capitalisation of £3.27bn.
Computacenter will publish its full results in mid-March. The channel partner saw revenues increase by 6.8% in fiscal 2020 to £5.44bn.
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