CDW sales drop as customers struggle with pandemic

US reseller giant CDW saw sales fall in Q2 as industry verticals experienced differing pain from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sales in the quarter ending 30 June 2020 fell 5.7 per cent year on year to $4.37bn, while operating income fell 5.6 per cent to $283.4m.

The reseller groups its UK business in with its Canadian arm. The pair reported combined sales of $484m, down 8.4 per cent on the previous year.

CEO Christine Leahy said: "This quarter, our financial results reflected variances across our diversified customer end markets directly related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I am extremely proud of our dedicated co-workers, who continued to meet the needs of our customers amidst unprecedented circumstances.

"Customer priorities included remote enablement, business continuity, security, optimization, and digital transformation.

"While the depth and duration of the impact from COVID-19 remain unknowable, I am confident that technology will continue to be essential throughout this health and economic crisis and the recovery beyond. CDW will continue to invest in capabilities, and our co-workers will continue to orchestrate integrated solutions from our broad technology portfolio to deliver strategic outcomes for our customers.

Revenue in CDW's SMB segment was hit hardest, falling 19.9 per cent to $302m.

The corporate segment was down 17.3 per cent to $1.5bn, while public sector sales grew 9.9 per cent to just over $2bn.

CFO Collin Kebo said: "CDW continues to be in a position of financial strength.

"We are confident in our balance sheet and liquidity position. We will continue to balance managing risk while supporting our customers."

CDW's share price fell 3.6 per cent when the stock exchange opened this morning.