Ingram Micro Sets Operational, Financial Goals Through 2015

Ingram Micro Inc. recently outlined its operational and financial goals through 2015, detailing how it plans to expand beyond its traditional distribution business, carve out stronger positions in high-margin specialty markets and capitalize on emerging segments such as cloud computing.

In an unusually candid gesture, for the first time in its history Ingram revealed revenue and growth targets for its various business units and specialty markets.

The distributor said that in its Advanced Enterprise Computing division, which spans enterprise storage and software, servers, and networking, it expects to grow revenue from $10 billion in 2011 to $14 billion by 2015. In addition, it anticipates revenue for its Data Capture/Point of Sale unit to reach $600 million in 2011, expanding to $900 million by the end of 2015.

For its Mobility Products and Services division, the distributor plans to grow sales from the current $600 million to about $1.7 billion in 2015, and with its Logistics business, the company expects total fees to grow from $120 million in 2011 to $190 million by 2015.

Ingram said that it expects revenue from its Cloud Computing unit, which the company launched earlier this year, to exceed $200 million by 2015.

"The specialty areas present exciting opportunities for growth and profitability," said Gregory Spierkel, Ingram chief executive. "Greater traction in these areas, coupled with the benefits of our system enhancements and ongoing operational improvements, leads to significant upside in our business," he said.

Ingram also detailed its operational goals, revealing that it expects to grow revenue in line with overall technology spending or 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent annually through 2015, the company said. The distributor also said that it anticipates full year gross margin of between 5.4 percent and 5.6 percent and earnings of $2.60 to $3.10 by 2015.

"Our strategy is designed to drive competitive advantage, sustainable profitable growth and returns on invested capital through the right combination of operational improvements and expansion initiatives," said Spierkel. "We are determined to significantly improve our financial performance and shareholder returns," he said.

Ingram said that it will finish implementing its new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to provide a consistent global platform for best practice and process sharing, real time data for quicker decision-making, improved customer service and better automation and efficiencies.