Fayrewood, the computer services group founded by Irish entrepreneur Mr Pierce Casey and listed in London, has posted profit growth of 88 per cent for 2003.

The company said yesterday that it had made operating profits of £13.94 million sterling (€20.9 million) before goodwill write-downs, up from £7.4 million in the previous year. The growth came as sales rose 14.2 per cent to £434 million, with the firm's niche distribution division credited for much of the rise.

Mr Casey, who chairs the firm and owns 10 per cent of its shares, described the results as "outstanding" and looked ahead to stronger IT markets in 2004.

"Trading in the current year to date has been in line with expectations. It is widely anticipated that the European IT market will be stronger in 2004 than last year and we believe that we will participate in this growth."

He said the company was considering start-up and acquisition opportunities across Europe, as well as building links with manufacturers in the Far East.

Computerlinks, the German-listed subsidiary of Fayrewood, saw operating profits rise 17 per cent to £6.8 million on the strength of what it said were a growing number of pan-European contracts with major vendors and a market leading position in the distribution of computer security products.

Computerlinks operates predominantly in Germany, Britain and France but has offices in the Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary and Austria.

In the niche distribution division, the Spanish UMD operation was the star, coming in ahead of forecasts. Performance at the British Interface Solutions International unit improved in the final quarter, the company said.