South Africa-based reselling and services player, Datatec, has said that it will fall short on both revenue and profit after tax forecasts for its financial year to end February 2013. It is now expecting to register revenue of approximately $5.4bn, versus its original forecast of between $5.5bn and $5.8bn. Profit after tax is expected to be in the range of $80m to $90m, against a forecast of approximately $104m.
The company has seen continuing “softness” in its Westcon distribution business - with a particularly challenging month in December - while its consulting business has been experiencing “weaker trading conditions”. However, the firm reports that Logicalis (its IT solutions and managed services business) continues to perform strongly and in line with expectations. Operating profit at Logicalis in H2 is expected to show an improvement over both H1 and the equivalent period in the previous financial year. There is no specific mention of the UK, however, which was under some pressure when we reported half-year results back in October (see UK market still challenging for Logicalis).
Full year results will be announced in May.