Compel sees profit slide by 39 per cent

Compel has become the latest company to suffer a downturn in profit as a result of the year 2000 slowdown.

For the six months ending 31 December 1999, the reseller saw its sales increase by 12 per cent to £135.6 million, compared with £121.5 million in 1998. Compel's pre-tax profit was £3 million, down from 1998's figure of £4.9 million. This is a drop of 39 per cent.

Neville Davis, Compel chairman and chief executive, insisted that the reseller is seeing evidence of an upturn in business and is confident that corporates will spend more in the second half of the year.

"While we are disappointed in terms of previous figures, it is in line with what we and the City expected," he said. "It is not just us, it is affecting the whole computer market."

In January, Compel made its first acquisition of the year by buying Pangaea, which provides digital marketing systems using internet and multimediatechnologies. Pangaea has now been rebranded as Compelreach.

Compel also altered its divisional structure during the period to reflect the increasing focus of its activities on service provision. The reseller created two consultants to work on Microsoft business and networking.

Compel's share price increased by 17 pence today following the release of its figures.