Currency effects boost Ingram Q4

Revs up on swings and roundabouts

By Team Register • Get more from this author

Posted in IT Channel, 25th February 2005 16:48 GMT

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The weakened dollar helped Ingram Micro boost its margins in the fourth quarter, the distributor’s latest results show.

Ingram’s sales in the fourth quarter were $7.45bn, 10.2% up on the same period the year before. The figures included $400m from the Tech Pacific operation it acquired in November last year.

European sales increased 8% to $2.99bn, driven by “strengthening European currencies”. In local currencies, sales were flat on an “extraordinarily strong” previous year.

Net income was $79.2m, including benefits of $19.3m, mainly related to currency hedging on its Australian dollar purchase of Tech Pacific. The previous year, it had net income of $46.4m, which included $8.7m of major-program costs associated with its profit enhancement program.

For the full year, sales were $25.5bn compared to $22.6bn the previous year, with the strengthening of the European currencies accounting for 4 per cent of the increase. Full year net income was $219.9m, compared to $149.2m the previous year.

Ingram said it expects solid demand in the first quarter, with sales coming in between $7bn and $7.2bn, and net income of $47m to $50m.