DGAP-News: Bechtle Reports Excellent Start to Fiscal Year

DGAP-News: Bechtle AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results/Interim Report Bechtle Reports Excellent Start to Fiscal Year 2014 14.05.2014 / 07:30 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bechtle Reports Excellent Start to Fiscal Year 2014 - Revenues up 14.2 per cent to EUR586.7 million - Consolidated EBIT skyrockets by 46 per cent - Strong impulses from both business segments Neckarsulm, 14 May 2014 - In the first quarter of 2014, Bechtle AG generated revenues of EUR586.7 million, an increase of 14.2 per cent. The growth drivers were the e-commerce companies, which gained 16.1 per cent, and the domestic system houses, which went up 14.6 per cent. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased 46.0 per cent to EUR21.2 million. The excellent earnings performance was mainly supported by the IT system house & managed services segment, which was able to boost its EBIT by almost 85 per cent to EUR13.7 million. As of 31 March 2014, Bechtle had a total of 6,352 employees, 393 more than in the corresponding prior-year quarter. "Bechtle had an auspicious start into the year. Thus, our optimism at the beginning of the year has been confirmed. The current economic framework conditions indicate a strong fiscal year 2014," explains Dr. Thomas Olemotz, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bechtle AG. IT System House & Managed Services Again Reports Two-Digit Growth over Prior Year In the first quarter, the IT system house & managed services segment managed to increase its revenue 13.2 per cent to EUR386.4 million (prior year: EUR341.4 million). The domestic system houses served as the growth driver, stepping up their contribution to the group revenue by 14.6 per cent to EUR338.8 million (prior year: EUR295.7 million). In the first quarter of 2014, the segment EBIT went up by a remarkable 84.8 per cent to EUR13.7 million (prior year: EUR7.4 million). At 3.5 per cent, the EBIT margin was significantly higher than in the prior year (2.2 per cent). Among other things, this excellent development is the result of the higher service share and the disproportionately low increase in personnel expenses. IT E-Commerce Boosts Revenue In the IT e-commerce segment, the revenue in the first quarter went up 16.1 per cent from EUR172.5 million to EUR200.3 million. Domestic revenues climbed 11.2 per cent from EUR50.8 million to EUR56.5 million. The e-commerce companies abroad exhibited an even more vigorous growth, boosting their revenues by an excellent 18.1 per cent to EUR143.7 million (prior year: EUR121.7 million). Year on year, EBIT increased 5.6 per cent to EUR7.5 million (prior year: EUR7.1 million). Due to the revenue growth, the margin decreased slightly from 4.1 per cent to 3.7 per cent. Financial Strength Enables Further Growth As of 31 March, cash and cash equivalents including time deposits and securities amounted to a comfortable EUR152.0 million. Thus, Bechtle can pre-finance large projects and grow by means of acquisitions without any difficulties. As of the balance sheet date, the equity amounted to EUR516.4 million. The equity ratio improved from 55.1 per cent to 57.3 per cent. The extrapolated return on equity reached an excellent value of 12.7 per cent. Further Investments in Workforce As of the reporting date 31 March 2014, the Bechtle Group had a total of 6,352 employees, including 434 trainees. This represents a year-on-year increase of 393. The increase of 6.6 per cent is the result of new recruitment as well as acquisitions. In the future, Bechtle will continue to invest in the training of its staff members. As of 31 March 2014, the training ratio in Germany was 8.2 per cent. Annual Forecast Confirmed From the current perspective, Bechtle is confident that its revenue and earnings position will outperform the prior year in the further course of the year as well. However, in view of the excellent performance in the second half of 2013, the Executive Board expects the growth dynamics to slacken slightly compared to the prior year starting from the third quarter. "In 2014, we want to increase both the revenue and the earnings considerably compared to the prior year. The impressive dynamics and outstanding team performance in the first quarter mean that we are confident that we will indeed achieve these targets," says Dr. Thomas Olemotz. Bechtle KPIs for the First Quarter of 2014 <pre> Q1/2014 Q1/2013 +/- Revenue EURk 586,696 513,950 +14.2 % Domestic EURk 395,298 346,518 +14.1 % Abroad EURk 191,398 167,432 +14.3 % IT system house EURk 386,440 341,408 +13.2 % IT e-commerce EURk 200,256 172,542 +16.1 % EBIT EURk 21,161 14,493 +46.0 % IT system house EURk 13,668 7,395 +84.8 % IT e-commerce EURk 7,493 7,098 +5.6 % EBIT margin % 3.6 2.8 EBT EURk 20,832 14,086 +47.9 % EBT margin % 3.6 2.7 Earnings after taxes EURk 14,802 10,075 +46.9 % Earnings per share EUR 0.70 0.48 +46.9 % Cash flow from operating activities EURk 3,076 18,461 -83.3 % Number of employees (average) 6,299 5,963 +5.6 % </pre> <pre> 31.03.2014 31.12.2013 +/- Liquidity EURk 152,025 156,105 -2.6 % Equity ratio % 57.3 55.1 Employees 6,352 6,219 +2.1 % </pre> *** The interim financial report for the first quarter of 2014 is available for download at www.bechtle.com/reports. About Bechtle As a one-stop IT provider, Bechtle AG is active with 65 system houses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and is one of Europe's leading dealers for information technology, with subsidiaries in 14 countries. This combination forms the basis of Bechtle's trend-setting business model, which links IT services to the direct marketing of IT products. Established in 1983 and headquartered in Neckarsulm, Germany, the company offers a one-stop, vendor-independent, comprehensive IT portfolio to its more than 75,000 customers from the fields of industry and trade, the public sector and the financial industry. Bechtle has been quoted at the stock exchange since 2000 and has been listed in the TecDAX technology index since 2004. In the fiscal year 2013, the group generated revenues of more than EUR2.2 billion. Contact Bechtle AG Bechtle Platz 1 74172 Neckarsulm, Germany Investor Relations Corporate Communications/Press Martin Link Sabine Brand martin.link@bechtle.com sabine.brand@bechtle.com Tel.: +49 7132 981-4149 Tel.: +49 7132 981-4115 Fax: +49 7132 981-4116 Fax: +49 7132 981-4116 End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 14.05.2014 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: Bechtle AG Bechtle Platz 1 74172 Neckarsulm Germany Phone: +49 7132 981-0 Fax: +49 7132 981-8000 E-mail: ir@bechtle.com Internet: www.bechtle.com ISIN: DE0005158703 WKN: 515870 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 267809 14.05.2014