Data Corporation, a provider of Information Technology (IT) products and logistics management services, announced sales and earnings for the second-quarter of financial year 2002, in which net income increased 29.7 percent to $35.3 million, or $0.6 per diluted share, compared with $27.2 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, in the prior year, excluding the prior year's second-quarter pre-tax special charges of $20 million.
Second-quarter sales, for the three-month period which ended July 31, 2002, grew nine percent in Europe and declined 11 percent and 16 percent in the US and in rest-of-world, respectively, over the prior year.
Reported European growth for Tech Data includes the Middle East region. “Our region hasn’t suffered quite the same huge drops in volumes as other world markets. This is partly due to the strong regional growth in the Middle East market, which has been a buffer for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market that trades a lot on its re-export sector,” said Steve Lockie, managing director for Tech Data FZ-LLC.
“We have maintained a slow and steady growth in the face of a global market decline, and that is pleasing. We also managed to invest in our own expansion in different areas of our business. As for our parent company, Tech Data has managed to weather a very stormy and recessive period very well,” added Lockie.
Net income for the six-months ended July 31, 2002 grew 19.4 percent to $70.4 million, or $1.2 per diluted share, compared with $59 million, or $1.06 per diluted share in the prior year, excluding the prior year's second- quarter special charges.
Including these special charges, net income for the six-months ended July 31, 2002 grew 54 percent from $45.8 million, or $0.83 per diluted share in the prior year six-month period. Sales for the six-months ended July 31, 2002 totaled $7.9 billion, a decline of 10.2 percent, compared with $8.8 billion in the six-month period last year.
With continued strong cash flow generation through working capital management, the company has reduced its net indebtedness by $281 million during the second-quarter and by $1.2 billion since January 31, 2001, resulting in a ratio of debt to total capital of 32 percent at July 31, 2002. Additionally, the company has reduced inventory levels to 22.5 days of supply at the end of the second-quarter.
Sales of software and systems increased 10 percent and two percent, respectively during the second-quarter while peripherals and networking declined by nine percent and 10 percent, respectively.
The peripherals business represented 43 percent of total second-quarter sales, systems 24 percent, software 18 percent and networking 15 percent. Electronic commerce sales grew to represent 36 percent of sales in the second-quarter this year, up from 29 percent last year.
Tech Data Corporation, founded in 1974, is a global provider of Information Technology (IT) products, logistics management and other value-added services. Ranked 117th on the Fortune 500, the company and its subsidiaries serve more than 100,000 technology resellers in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.
Tech Data's service offering includes pre- and post-sale training and technical support, financing options and configuration services as well as electronic commerce solutions. The company generated sales of $17.2 billion for its most recent fiscal year, which ended January 31, 2002
Tech Data FZ-LLC is the largest trade-only distributor of computer hardware, software and services for the Middle-east and north Africa region). Tech Data’s main office is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with warehouse and logistics operations are in Dubai, Jebel Ali, Dubai Airport Free Zone & Bahrain Air port Free Zone. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
