Record growth for SCC despite continued investment programme

Europe’s largest independent IT Group SCC has announced record earnings for the sixth consecutive year driven by continued demand from businesses seeking outsourced and cost-effective solutions for cloud and digital services. Full year results for the financial year ending 31 March 2019, for the SCC EMEA Group, showed revenues reaching a record £2.2bn and EBIT of £28.2m – a 1.7% growth year-on-year. The group has made significant and transformational investment in its own IT systems over the past 12 months to ensure capability to meet future customer demand. FY19 highlights and outlook:

• £2.2bn turnover, up 18% across EMEA.
• EBIT up £28.2m up 1.7%.
• Operating profit of £18.7m for the UK business (before interest and tax), up 16.9%.
• Acquisitions of AVS (an AV Specialist) and Hobs Onsite (a Managed Print Specialist)

The group’s record level of turnover reflects strong performance in the product divisions in both France and in the UK, with growth of 20% and 23% respectively. In all territories, services turnover also grew during the year to £337m, a growth of 4%. France, at €1.5bn (euro), represented 65% of group turnover with growth of 18% on last year. The UK represents 65% of operating profit delivering £18.7m up 16.9% on prior year. France saw a slight reduction in operating profit of 0.3% driven by margin pressure and a challenging environment in the services operations. Turnover in Spain has increased 11.4% year-on-year, and was predominantly driven by stronger product sales though services also grew by 7%. The group’s Global Delivery Centres in the UK, France, Romania & Vietnam have continued to grow in the year as investment continued in capacity, and capability in support of our clients. The group’s long-term investment programme which has focused on the replacement of the current suite of IT systems is ongoing. This programme will introduce market-leading applications to support customers and internal operations delivering better service, information and efficiency opportunities. James Rigby, SCC Chief Executive, said: “We are very pleased to achieve another record year of growth and profitability. All companies today are digital and operate in digital environments and this presents great opportunities for us. “The focus across the group will remain on the successful strategy of growing our services business and developing the right value adding product business for our customers to help them unleash their potential. “During the year, we have significantly invested across all of our capital programmes. Re-investing profits back into the business is a key part of our strategy to ensure that the group is able to change to meet the needs of our customers and remains relevant for the future. “Funds are available to support continued investment programmes, organic growth and targeted acquisition opportunities. We have a strong and resilient business based on long-term relationships and a sound strategy which is proving successful in growing profitability.”