This article is more than 1 year old

Micro P parent does it AGAIN, kicks recession in nackers

Get big, get niche, oh wait... that is meaningless, get out

DCC Sercom, parent of Brit IT distie Micro P and games console wholesaler Gem, has again laughed in the face of a flatlining local economy.

Turnover in the tech division of Irish conglomerate DCC grew 17.9 per cent to €2.27bn (£1.92bn) for the year ended 31 March 2013, and a whopping 16.8 per cent of this was organic.

The group didn't get it all its own way though - margins fell from 2.6 to 2.2 per cent due to a collapse in the gaming sector, leading to a more modest operating profit rise of 1.3 per cent to €50.9m (£43.2m).

Not a bad set of numbers considering the struggles at the big four - worldwide distie giants that include Tech Data, Ingram Micro, Arrow and Avnet.

The business in Britain - Gem and Micro P - accounted for 72 per cent of DCC Sercom's turnover, fuelled by a finished goods fulfilment contract with retailers as well as by mobile devices.

"This growth more than offset the effect of the decline in the market for home entertainment products," the firm said in a statement.

The home entertainment market in the UK declined 15 per end in calendar 2012 said DCC as the market for console gaming software and hardware fell 25 per cent. The reason? Gamers were waiting for Microsoft next generation Xbox.

"This decline had a negative impact on DCC Sercom's businesses in Britain and in Ireland," the group said, adding it was awaiting an upturn when the next MS console launches later this year.

In the fiscal year, DCC Sercom acquired Dutch minnow Go Telecom BV and a small Apple distie in Ireland but it offloaded Altimate in France to Arrow.

DCC's existing tech wholesaling operation in France saw unit shipments rise 4.6 per cent but revenues fall due to a shift in the product mix away from higher margin AV accessories.

Parent DCC - which operates in the energy and health care sectors too - saw group revenues climb 19.4 per cent to €12.9bn as operating profit bounced by 21.3 per cent to €229.2m. ®

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