DTL shares were up 12 per cent on the opening of the market after it said earnings per share for the December quarter would be 30 per cent higher than the record results for last year.

Its consolidated net profit before tax for the first half was expected to be close to $18 million or “slightly ahead of the top end of the $15 million to $18 million guidance range provided at the AGM in October 2021.”

At an investor day in November, DTL said in its 2022 outlook that it was off to a fast start with a $3 million profit backlog which would be realised this year. The backlog was created by the lack of supply for computer chips, according to chair Richard Anderson.

However, supply chain constraints were expected to continue and remain throughout 2022. It also forecast wage pressure and resource constraints, but there would be a “partial return to pre-Covid operating models including some increase in travel expense”.

In October, chief executive Laurence Baynham said the company said 2022 would see the return of large-scale digital transformation projects and it had already seen a strong performance from its first quarter.