It's been another tough year for Morse, with the mid-range reseller recording a 24 per cent drop in sales to £351.3m for the 12 months to June 30 (2002: £465.2m). The company also fell deeper into the red with net losses, after restructuring costs, of £14.1m (2002: -£140,000).

At the heart of its sales problems lies a huge drop in hardware sales ,falling from 2002’s £358.4m to £239.1m in 2003. Morse attributes this to lack of demand in telecommunications and financial services, historically its two key customer sectors. But the company says it is maintaining market share in both areas, so is well placed to pick up business if and when...

Morse meanwhile increased service revenues as a proportion of turnover, a long stated aim. However, as service sales rose just a little to £112.2m (2002: £106.8m), this change in the revenue mix was achieved largely by the corresponding hardware slump.

Morse' press statement is here. ®