Exertis records 15 per cent revenue rise as WFH products fly off shelves
Distribution giant posts annual revenue and profit hike despite weak demand for pro-AV and other high-margin B2B products
Distribution goliath Exertis has recorded a double-digit annual revenue and profit hike as it benefited from strong demand for consumer and working-from-home products.
According to results announced by LSE-listed parent DCC Group this morning, DCC Technology - which trades as Exertis - generated revenue of £4.483bn in its year to 31 March 2021, a 14.6 per cent rise on the previous year. Operating profit followed suit, rising 11 per cent to £72.4m.
Although trading conditions in higher-margin B2B sectors, including pro-AV, remained "challenged", higher-volume, lower-margin consumer and WFH products flew off its shelves.
Dublin-based DCC Group stressed that each of its four divisions recorded operating profit growth during the year, despite a "challenging trading environment".
The 13,700-employee conglomerate - which has a large oil and gas business - also announced it has committed to achieving net zero by 2050 for group scope 1 or 2 emissions, with an interim target of a 20 per cent reduction by 2025.
Exertis exertions
Built on the historic Micro-P and Gem brands - as well as recent acquisitions including Hammer and Hypertec - Exertis' UK business still generates over half (56 per cent) of the distributor's £4.5bn top line, with 2021 revenues swelling eight per cent to £2.529bn.
In the UK, strong demand from etailers, grocers, retailers and B2B customers offering mobility and WFH products was "more than offset" by lower sales of pro-AV, enterprise and B2B products, it said.
UK operating profit was consequently "modestly behind the prior year".
Exertis' implementation of a new SAP system in the UK last summer will "enhance the service offering to all customers and suppliers", it claimed.
The distributor's native Irish business contributed £327m to the total (up 18 per cent), with France chipping in £326.5m (up 33 per cent).
Bolstered by two US acquisitions during the year, Exertis revenues from outside of these three countries rose by a quarter to hit £1.301bn.
In total DCC Group forked out £374.6m on acquisitions during its fiscal 2021, including £44.2m at DCC Technology.
This does not include Azenn, a €60m-revenue, 200-employee French VAD it agreed to acquire in April.
"We remain active from a development perspective and are ambitious to build DCC into a global leader in our chosen sectors," DCC CEO Donal Murphy said.
"We continue to have the platforms, opportunities and capability to do so. The Group is well placed to navigate the ongoing uncertainty, build on our momentum and continue DCC's growth and development into the future."