Strong demand in US boosts Premier Farnell

LEEDS-based electronic components distributor Premier Farnell has posted a 13 per cent increase in first-quarter adjusted pre-tax profit, fuelled by strong demand from North America.

The company, which sells products ranging from batteries and chargers to computer consumables and security products in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, said sales for the quarter increased 8.3 per cent to £252.5m.

That beat its own estimates of a 6 to 8 per cent growth, and the company said it expected the solid performance to continue.

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For the quarter ended January 29, Premier Farnell, which counts Philips, Microsoft and Nokia among its customers, said pre-tax profit before items was £24.1m, compared with £21.4m last year.

Profit from its North American business grew 52 per cent.

“The region continues to benefit from the cost efficiencies associated with its web transformation and its EDE (Electronic Design Engineering) penetration increasing to 42 per cent,” the company said in a statement.

The company also said it expected second-quarter sales growth to be in-line with its target range.

Last month, rival distributor Electrocomponents posted a more than 50 per cent rise in its annual profit, after double digit growth pushed revenue over £1bn for the first time.

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