French cloud computing company OVHcloud on Thursday raised its 2022 objective for revenue growth, citing increased demand for sovereign cloud offerings and solid commercial momentum, including contacts with major companies and public entities.

The newly-listed cloud services provider now expects to report revenue growth between 15-17% for the twelve months to August 31, compared with its earlier growth estimate of 12.5%-15%.

Cloud computing has become a major driver of growth for the big tech in recent years, with the U.S. giants' market power prompting the emergence of smaller rivals like OVHcloud and German software provider NextCloud.

"The first half-year results demonstrate OVHcloud's ability to deliver a robust, sustainable and profitable growth acceleration strategy," Chief Executive Officer Michel Paulin said in a statement.

Europe's leading cloud provider, which operates more than 400,000 servers in 33 data centres across four continents, reported a 13.3% like-for-like jump in its first-half revenue at 382 million euros ($416.84 million).

Revenue generated in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine represented approximately 1.5% of the group total, and OVHcloud said its outlook assumed minimal revenue in the region for the full year.

The group's client retention showed steady improvement from last year, with net revenue retention rate of 112% in the first half.

It maintains its 2022 margin target on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around 40%.

  - Reuters