British technology services provider Computacenter has raised its annual profit forecast for the fourth time this year, driven by steady demand from artificial intelligence data centre customers in North America and the UK. The company said on Monday that it expected to report no less than £425 million in adjusted pretax profit for fiscal 2026, well above a company-compiled analyst consensus of £387.1 million. Its shares rose 6.3% on the announcement.

The upgrade builds on a strong first half, with third-quarter performance also ahead of expectations, the group said.

Orders build through the third quarter

At the end of the third quarter on 30 September, the group's committed product order backlog stood at £12.6 billion, up from £9.3 billion at the end of June. The backlog represents orders already committed but not yet delivered, so the rise gives the company a larger pipeline of work heading into the rest of the year. Technology sourcing revenue in the quarter was driven by hyperscale and neocloud customers in North America and the UK, the company said, reflecting continued spending on the infrastructure behind cloud and AI services.

Shares have climbed through the year

Computacenter's shares have risen 56.7% so far this year, as of Friday's close, before Monday's further gain. The market reaction suggests investors welcomed confirmation that AI-related infrastructure demand is still translating into orders and profit, rather than fading after earlier upgrades. For a UK-listed technology services group, the update also underlines how much of its recent growth is tied to customers on both sides of the Atlantic, not to the domestic market alone.

The company has now raised expectations four times in 2026; whether it meets the £425 million floor will be confirmed at its full-year results.