Data#3 shares jump after half-year result meets estimates
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More news: Data#3 shares advanced after the IT services and solutions provider largely matched expectations for the first half of the financial year.
Data#3 shares were up 6.6% to $7.90 at 2:30pm AEDT, extending gains of nearly 25% since the turn of the year.
E&P analyst Olivier Coulon said that the Data#3's outlook is "constructive, but not specific". He expects investors to further query the financial impact of Microsoft's partner incentive program.
Data#3 posts 4.3% rise in half-year profit, topping forecasts
The news: Brisbane-based IT services provider Data#3 posted a 4.3% rise in first-half net profit to $22.4 million, thanks to a 7.4% growth in gross sales and an improved gross margin.
The numbers: Analysts had expected a 3% increase in net profit to $22.1 million, according to Visible Alpha data.
Pre-tax profit of $32 million hit the midpoint of the company’s own guidance of $31 million to $33 million.
The company declared an interim dividend of $13.1 cents per share, up 4% compared to a year ago.
The context: Data#3's managing director and CEO Brad Colledge said the company has been "actively implementing a range of strategic initiatives" to mitigate the financial impact on its software solutions business of Microsoft incentive changes, which started on 1 January.
In December, Microsoft announced that it will implement several changes to its partner incentive program, including an increased focus on small, medium and corporate initiatives and reducing enterprise agreement licence rebates.
Data#3 said the changes will reduce the incentives earned on its Microsoft enterprise agreements as the tech giant shifts to increasing incentives for other programs.
As with prior years, Data#3 have not provided specific FY25 guidance at this stage in the year, but expects a sales peak in the months of May and June.
The source: ASX announcement
