Computacenter confirms flotation as profits rise

Heading for the market: Mike Norris, the chief executive (right) and Tony Conophy, the finance director, of Computacenter Services Group, which is planning to sell 25 per cent of its shares on the London Stock Exchange this May.

The offering is expected to value the UK's largest private information technology company, which is about 30 per cent-owned by institutional investors, at pounds 850m to pounds 900m.

The company also said 1997 pre-tax profit rose 38 per cent to pounds 47.1m and sales increased 28 per cent to pounds 1.13bn as the planned introduction of a single European currency in 1999 and the year 2000 conversion date fuelled demand for information technology services.

Mr Norris said: `Given the shareholder structure, we were always going to do it one day. We don't really need the money.'