Datatec - Attractive value play with upside potential

In H122 Datatec saw strong growth globally, with elevated demand for networking, cyber security and cloud infrastructure. The H122 results show good operational growth across the group, with a notably stronger performance from Westcon after its turnaround. Semiconductor supply-chain issues remain challenging, with the group seeing growing inventory levels and a building backlog of unfulfilled work. However, with technology trends continuing from H122, the outlook for H222 looks promising. Trading on 15.4x FY22 earnings and 3.6x FY22 EV/EBITDA, Datatec looks attractively priced, bolstered by the 512 ZAR cents (c 33 US cents) per share special dividend and with the results of management’s ongoing strategic review as potential upside for 2022.