(Reuters) - British IT services provider Computacenter Plc's <CCC.L> profit rose 24.3 percent in the first half of the year, buoyed by demand for cybersecurity services and as more companies moved to the cloud.
Computacenter also benefited from stronger growth in Germany, where public sector customers and one hyper-scale data centre client helped drive a 53 percent surge in profit.
The FTSE-250 firm, which started in 1981 as a reseller of computers, has expanded rapidly into France and Germany, with the latter now accounting for over 60 percent of its operating profit, well above that of its UK unit.
Investment by businesses in new IT infrastructure - particularly in Germany and France - fuelled Computacenter's growth in 2017 and helped the firm hike its forecast four times last year.
The company said the buoyant market was being driven by the need to increase network capacity, enhance cybersecurity, upgrade workplaces and a shift to the cloud, which helps business become more efficient.
Computacenter said in July it expects full-year results to be "comfortably in excess" of its prior expectations. On Friday it maintained that outlook.
Adjusted profit before tax rose to 52.1 million pounds in the six months ended June 30, from 41.9 million pounds a year earlier.
Revenue jumped 18.1 percent to 2.01 billion pounds.
(Reporting by Justin George Varghese and Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
