Westcon-Comstor maintains growth trajectory in H1 FY25

First-half results show strong performance in cybersecurity and software sales as EBITDA rises double-digits to $69.5m

Westcon-Comstor has posted a strong first half of the year owing to its shift to a software, services and subscription-based recurring revenue model.

Revenues came in at $1.80bn with gross margins reaching 12 per cent after growing 11 per cent in H1 FY24.

EBITDA hiked double digits year-on-year by 16.5 per cent to $69.5m.

While gross profit climbed 6.1 per cent to $216.1m for the six months to 31 August 2024.

Cybersecurity emerged as the distributor’s largest driver, notching a 22.2 per cent surge in revenues to $860m.

Cybersecurity made up 48 per cent of the distie’s revenues during the half-year period, compared with 38 per cent in H1 FY24.

Westcon teased a strong cybersecurity sales pipeline for H2.

Software sales saw similar growth, rising 17.9 per cent to $ 878.17m, representing 49 per cent of total revenue (H1 FY24: 40 per cent) as the company transitions away from traditional hardware towards recurring revenues based on annual subscriptions and SaaS models.

“Against a challenging backdrop of uncertain macroeconomic and market conditions, we are pleased to maintain our profit growth trajectory as we report a strong financial performance for H1 FY25,” said Westcon-Comstor CEO David Grant.

“Through our data-driven approach, expertise in high-growth technology domains and track record for innovation – as evidenced by our 3D Lab, AWS Marketplace and Intelligent Demand programmes – we are uniquely placed to add strategic value to channel partners and vendors.

“We can therefore look to the future with confidence as we focus on unlocking new growth opportunities for partners and vendors across EMEA and APAC.”

Partnerships equal success

Westcon attributed its rise in cybersecurity to growing demand from channel partners and their customers for multi-vendor solutions amid an increasingly complex threat landscape.

The distie has entered a number of European vendor signings in the first half of 2024.

Most recently it announced its collaboration with Stratus Technologies to “mark the arrival” of its new solution-focused IoT division.

It also bolstered its quantum security portfolio with its AppViewX partnership announced in July.