TD Synnex just about managed to grow during 2024, thanks to late headway in a final quarter period that topped its outlook.
Full-year revenue inched up 1.6% to $58.5bn, with its ultimate top line of gross billings advancing 3.6% to $80bn.
The world’s largest IT distributor returned to double-digit growth in the final quarter of the year, as revenues topped its outlook by vaulting 10% year on year to $15.8bn.
TD Synnex in this regard did pretty much what it said it would at the start of the year, CFO Marshall Witt noted on an earnings call.
“As we began the year, we anticipated that revenue growth would show signs of recovery and gain momentum throughout the year,” he said.
“Gross billings growth was roughly flat in the first half and roughly 8% in the second half, aligning to the sequential growth we were anticipating.”
Witt added: “We were pleased to see growth across both endpoint and Advanced Solutions in the quarter, which supports our thesis that the IT market has returned to growth.”
Europe punches below weight
TD Synnex’s business in Europe – where it is the region’s largest distributor – grew more slowly than elsewhere, however.
Reported European revenues rose 5.5% year on year to $5.2bn in Q4, with growth falling to 3.2% on a constant currency basis. That compares with 10.6% growth in the Americas and 31.7% growth in AsiaPac.
On an earnings call, CEO Patrick Zammit – who has now been in the job for over 100 days – was unfazed by its European performance, however.
“The market grew 2% in the last quarter [in Europe] – a little bit more slowly than in Q3. But it continues to grow, and we outperformed the market,” he said.
“It’s true that you have a level of uncertainty in Europe, but it’s not today materialising in the market growth.”
Full-year European revenues rose 1.1% to $19.6bn, which would make TD Synnex the region’s largest distributor (even when considering the potential might of a merged ALSO and Westcoast).
Although global Q4 net income grew at a slower rate than sales (namely by 3.9% to $194.8m), Zammit said the results don’t conflict with his efforts to make “profitable growth” a key tenet of his rein.
“If you look at distribution only [excluding TD Synnex’s Hyve Solutions business], the margin in fact was stable year on year,” he stressed.
TD Synnex expects to grow its top line by mid single digits in its Q1 2025, with revenues set to hit between $14.4bn and $15.2bn (compared with $14.4bn a year earlier).
