Computacenter estimates full-year results slightly ahead of forecast

Jan 16 (Reuters) - British IT services provider Computacenter Plc (LSE: CCC.L - news) said it expects results for the year just ended to be slightly ahead of its forecast, boosted by strong demand for its maintenance services in the UK.

The company said it expects its businesses in Britain and Germany - its largest markets, to gain from order wins and margin improvements in 2014.

"We have secured some new contracts in the fourth quarter (in the UK) that will aid our growth from the second half of 2014 onwards," the company said in a statement.

Computacenter, which supplies IT equipment and provides maintenance services, said revenue for the year ended Dec. 31 rose 6 percent.

It had reported adjusted pretax profit of 71.3 million pounds and revenue of 2.91 billion pounds for the year ended December 2012.

The company is expected to report full-year results on March 11.

Analysts on average expect the company to report full-year revenue of 2.99 billion pounds ($4.89 billion) and pretax profit of 80 million pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company said reported revenue in the UK increased 8 percent for the full year, while that in Germany grew 7 percent.

Germany and UK contribute about 40 percent each of the company's revenue while France accounts for about 16 percent.

Reported revenue from France fell 2 percent compared to a year earlier. The company said considerable work still needed to be done in 2014 in France.

Shares in the company were up marginally at 649 pence at 0820 GMT on Thursday on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) .