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Forget the accountancy scandal, our biz is back: Tech Data

We're keeping a lid on costs and exiting unprofitable sales, so there

If companies operate as intended then sales growth should be a given, and with its accountancy scandal pretty much behind it Tech Data reported business as usual for the fiscal third quarter that ended last month.

The world’s second largest tech distributor reported a 6.1 per cent hike in sales to $6.76bn, largely aided by bumper PC sales on both sides of the Atlantic and soaring mobility shipments in Europe, led by Apple’s iPhone.

The Americas arm edged up three per cent to $2.6bn on the back of the XP and wider client devices refresh, but the firm also noted “strength” in storage and networking. In Europe, turnover rebounded eight per cent in constant currency to $4.1bn.

Following the discovery of accounting irregularities in the UK branch, and elsewhere in a few European countries and Latin America, the subsequent probe made the management team in those areas more inwardly focused.

The subsequent restatement saw TD reduce sales for fiscal 2011, 2012, and 2013 by $1.59bn and profit after tax by $27m.

In a conference call with analysts to discuss the latest quarter, CEO Bob Dutkovsky said:

“Our focus on operations and the market have been instrumental in our improved performance this year ... our improved operational efficiency has allowed us to selectively pursue more profitable business”

The breakdown of the customer mix saw VARs account for 46 per cent of sales, direct marketers and retailers some 30 per cent, and the remainder from corporate resellers.

In terms of products, broad line kit was 47 per cent of net sales, data centre from the Azlan division was 21 per cent, 18 per cent software, eleven per cent mobility, and three per cent consumer electronics.

HP accounted for a fifth of turnover, and Apple, which handed TD the iPhone franchise in Europe last November on top of Macs and iPads, was at 16 per cent.

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