Computacenter has lifted its full-year profit forecast after a surge in demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure pushed its order backlog to record levels. Shares in the technology provider rose about 7% on Monday morning following the update to investors. The company said it now expects to report an adjusted pre-tax profit for the year of at least £425 million, compared with the £387 million that analysts had previously forecast.
The improvement in outlook stems from the company's third-quarter performance, which beat expectations. At the end of September, Computacenter's backlog of orders stood at £12.6 billion, up sharply from £9.3 billion three months earlier at the end of June. The company reported a strong pipeline of opportunities alongside this record backlog.
The stronger performance was primarily driven by major customers in North America and the UK in the hyperscale and neocloud sectors. These capture the company's work in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects such as data centres and AI cloud computing services. Computacenter designs, sources and deploys IT infrastructure globally, including hardware and software components, data storage and connectivity services.
Demand for AI infrastructure components has intensified as customers reprioritise their IT spending towards artificial intelligence projects. Hyperscalers operating huge data centres, including companies such as Amazon, Meta and Google, have driven particularly high demand for components to power their work. Supply shortages in these components have also pushed up prices, further boosting the company's financial performance.
Computacenter was promoted to the FTSE 100 from the FTSE 250 in June. For UK investors and savers holding portfolios tracking the FTSE 100, the company's profit upgrade and share price gains represent increased exposure to the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.