Ingram Micro has celebrated one of its best first quarters this decade despite economic fears and few selling days due to the early Easter holidays.Sales hit a record $8.58 billion (£4.34 million), up four per cent from last year's figure of $8.25 billion (£4.17 million). Profits hit $64.1 million (£32.4 million) compared to $37 million (£18.7 million), but were technically down after factoring in the one off expense of $33.8 million (£17 million) due to Brazilian software taxes last year.
EMEA sales reached $3.07 billion (£1.54 billion), 36 per cent of overall group sales – up one per cent on last year's figure of $3.05 billion (£1.53 billion).
"As we discussed in February, softness in the economic environments in North America and Europe is exerting pressure on our operations in those regions," said Ingram Micro's chief executive Greg Spierkel.
"We've made good progress on the expense-containment plan instituted earlier this year, but additional steps are necessary in this environment. We are planning a restructuring in our EMEA operations, primarily in the regional headquarters."
Expanding on the restructuring plans to Wall Street analysts, he added: "[It] should substantially reduce the size of our regional headquarters in Belgium without disrupting customer service and financial controls."
He stressed that layoffs were not something the company takes lightly; it felt it was the right time. "While restructuring decision are always difficult to make, we are confident these are the right moves, at the right time. The changes we make today will make us stronger and more competitive in the months ahead."
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