SOFTCAT plc
(‘Softcat’, the ‘Group’)
Preliminary results for the year ended 31 July 2025
Another record performance, alongside investment in future growth
Softcat plc (LSE: SCT.L), a leading UK provider of IT infrastructure products and services, today announces its full year results for the twelve months to 31 July 2025. These results reflect another year of record performance and successful strategic execution, delivering strong progress across our key financial metrics and enabling significant investment to drive future growth.
| Financial Summary | Year ended | ||
| 31 July 2025 £m | 31 July 2024 £m | Change | |
| Gross invoiced incomea | 3,617.0 | 2,852.2 | 26.8% |
| Gross profit | 494.3 | 417.8 | 18.3% |
| Underlying operating profita | 180.1 | 154.1 | 16.9% |
| Underlying cash conversion (%)a | 95.6% | 95.9% | (0.3)ppts |
| Underlying basic earnings per share (p)a | 69.5p | 59.7p | 16.4% |
| Total ordinary dividend (p) | 29.3p | 26.6p | 10.2% |
| Final ordinary dividend (p) | 20.4p | 18.1p | 12.7% |
| Special dividend (p) | 16.1p | 20.9p | (23.0)% |
| Statutory measures | |||
| Revenue | 1,458.4 | 962.6 | 51.5% |
| Operating profit | 172.9 | 154.1 | 12.2% |
| Basic earnings per share (p) | 66.6p | 59.7p | 11.6% |
Highlights for the year ended 31 July 2025
- Strong gross profit growth of 18.3% and underlying operating profita growth of 16.9% driven by continued strength in the base business, together with an outstanding second half performance supported by larger solutions projects.
- GII growth of 26.8% reflects good performance across technologies and customer segments, aided by the contribution from very large, low margin deals.
- Further significant investment to underpin future growth, spanning IT, data and digital projects, new sales and HR systems, our office network and our people.
- Completed our first-ever acquisition with the purchase of Oakland, a data and AI consultancy, which provides new capabilities in an area of growing demand.
- Statutory operating profit of £172.9m grew by 12.2%, including £7.2m of non-underlying costs recognised in the year, mainly relating to systems investment.
- Strong underlying cash conversiona of 95.6%, with closing net cash and cash equivalents of £182.3m (FY2024: £158.5m).
- A final ordinary dividend of 20.4p, resulting in a full year dividend of 29.3p, up 10.2%, together with a special dividend of 16.1p.
- Outlook: Our FY2026 outlook remains consistent with that provided in our August trading update. Given the phasing of large projects in both FY2025 and FY2026 we expect underlying operating profit growth in the current year to be first half weighted.
a See page 12 for full definitions and further reconciliations of Alternative Performance Measures (APMs).
b Revenue is reported under IFRS 15, the international accounting standard for revenue. IFRS 15 requires judgements be made to determine whether Softcat acts as principal or agent in certain trading transactions. These judgements, coupled with slight variations of business model and contractual arrangements between IT Solutions Providers, means the impact of IFRS 15 across the peer group is not uniform. Income prior to the IFRS 15 adjustment is referred to as gross invoiced income, which is an APM.
Graham Charlton, Softcat CEO, commented,
“I’m very pleased to report another record performance for Softcat, which marks a milestone achievement of 20 consecutive years of double-digit gross profit growth. The strength of our business model and our consistent strategic execution underpin our continuing ability to scale and invest for future growth. Our outstanding performance in FY2025 and the sustainability of our growth model are a tribute to our special culture and the ongoing evolution of our offering.
We have never been in a better position to address the increasingly complex needs of customers, who are adapting to rapid developments across all facets of their technology. During the year, we completed our first acquisition, bolstering our data, automation and AI capabilities in an exciting growth segment. And we have once again proven our ability to deliver larger and more complex solutions projects, an area we have been investing in for a number of years.
I would like to thank all our people for their incredible commitment and support to each other, and in going above and beyond for customers, delivering exceptional service with a positive attitude. Our strong performance provides us with the confidence to accelerate investment in our own systems and processes, ensuring that we have a modern and efficient infrastructure, to reinforce our competitive advantage and deliver on the significant growth opportunities ahead.”
Outlook
Looking ahead, Softcat remains well positioned to deliver significant growth by making further market share gains in a growing market. Our FY2026 outlook remains consistent with that provided in our FY2025 trading update on 28 August.
Excluding the significant incremental contribution from large projects in FY2025, the Board expects to deliver low double-digit gross profit growth and high single-digit underlying operating profit growth in FY2026c. Including the significant incremental contribution from large deals in the comparative period, this translates to reported rates of high single-digit gross profit growth and low single-digit growth in underlying operating profit.
The second half of FY2025 was exceptionally strong, reflecting the contribution from larger solutions projects. Our guidance for FY2026 includes the committed pipeline of further large projects. While dependent on customer and vendor schedules, these are expected to be delivered in the first half. This means growth in underlying operating profit in FY2026 will be first half weighted.
c Underlying operating profit is adjusted to remove non-underlying items, including acquisition-related expenses such as the fair value of deferred contingent consideration, and implementation costs of the new sales and HR systems. Excluding the significant incremental contribution from large deals in FY2025, underlying operating profit is c.£170m.