JSE-listed multinational IT group Datatec has continued to weather the worldwide economic recession well and is on track to deliver annual revenue of up to US$4bn in the year to February 2010.

In an interim management statement issued to the markets on Thursday morning, Datatec says it returned to revenue growth in all its divisions in the second half of the financial year.

The group expects to report profit after tax of about $44m to end-February and headline earnings per share of about $0,23.

“Cash generation remains strong and margins are steady,” says Datatec CEO Jens Montanana (pictured). “The inherent leverage in our business model is beginning to show through as the cost reductions initiated over a year ago provide a solid basis for capturing the benefits of any revenue growth.”

Datatec’s largest subsidiary, IT distributor Westcon, has continued to perform well, with third-quarter revenues showing sequential growth over the first two quarters, with higher margins and improved profitability.

Trading at Westcon in the US, its largest market, improved over the first half of the financial year.

At Datatec subsidiary Logicalis, trading also improved from the first half, though the business continues to be affected negatively by delays in large IT projects.

“Logicalis is typically a business that improves later in the economic cycle, in part due to the longer term nature of its customer contracts,” Datatec says. “Logicalis is expected to produce a better second half performance in the current financial year than the first half.”

The group says it will publish its full-year results on 13 May. — Staff reporter, TechCentral