DGAP-News: Bechtle AG Reports Excellent Second Quarter

DGAP-News: Bechtle AG / Key word(s): Half Year Results/Quarter Results Bechtle AG Reports Excellent Second Quarter 08.08.2014 / 07:30 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bechtle AG Reports Excellent Second Quarter - Higher profitability: EBIT surges 55.9 per cent - Market shares gained: Revenue up 16.4 per cent - Positive impulses from all divisions Neckarsulm, 8 August 2014 - In the second quarter of 2014, Bechtle AG further increased its growth dynamics, which had already been strong in the prior quarter. In the period from April to June, revenue grew 16.4 per cent to EUR603.7 million. The trading business was the growth driver, gaining 22.6 per cent. The service segment also underwent a two-digit growth of 13.3 percent. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased 55.9 per cent to EUR23.3 million. The earnings performance was supported by both segments. At plus 69.3 per cent, the system house & managed services segment accounted for the major share. The trading business climbed 41.9 per cent. As of 30 June 2014, Bechtle had a total of 6,393 employees, 340 (5.6 per cent) more than in the prior year. "With the excellent figures of the second quarter, we seamlessly followed up on the strong performance of the first quarter. What is more, the revenue and earnings growth surpassed the prior year even more significantly than at the beginning of the year. The entire team deserves the praise for this remarkable achievement," explains Dr. Thomas Olemotz, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bechtle AG. System House & Managed Services Improves Profitability The IT system house & managed services segment increased its revenue 13.3 per cent to EUR388.8 million (prior year: EUR343.3 million). The domestic system houses provided the primary contribution to this extremely positive development. Their contribution to the group revenue increased 14.6 per cent to EUR347.8 million (prior year: EUR303.3 million). In the second quarter of 2014, the segment EBIT went up by an outstanding 69.3 per cent to EUR13.0 million (prior year: EUR7.7 million). The EBIT margin amounted to 3.3 per cent, compared to 2.2 per cent in the prior year. IT E-Commerce Reports Above-Average Growth In the reporting period, the revenue in the IT e-commerce segment climbed 22.6 per cent from EUR175.2 million to EUR214.9 million. The increase of the foreign e-commerce companies was especially high. They boosted their revenues 25.7 per cent to EUR159.2 million. The increase was distributed over almost all international markets of the Bechtle Group. Domestic revenues climbed 14.5 per cent from EUR48.6 million to EUR55.7 million. Year on year, EBIT increased 41.9 per cent to EUR10.4 million. The margin progressed from 4.1 per cent to 4.8 per cent. Sound Balance Sheet Bechtle AG continues to report outstanding balance sheet KPIs. As of 30 June, cash and cash equivalents including time deposits and securities amounted to a comfortable EUR113.5 million. Thus, Bechtle can pre-finance large projects and grow by means of acquisitions without any difficulties. The equity ratio improved from 55.1 per cent to 57.6 per cent. The extrapolated return on equity reached an excellent value of 13.1 per cent. Great Demand for Bechtle Training Posts As of the reporting date 30 June 2014, the Bechtle Group had a total of 6,393 employees (including 412 trainees), a year-on-year increase of 340. The increase of 5.6 per cent is the result of acquisitions as well as new recruitment. Training remains a major area of Bechtle's HR work. The high interest in training positions at Bechtle is a good indicator of this success. Annual Forecast Confirmed Bechtle is still 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 prior year, the Executive Board believes that the growth dynamics will slacken to a certain extent in the second half of the year. "In the first half of 2014, we laid an impressive foundation for attaining new record figures in the year as a whole, thereby significantly exceeding the revenue and earnings of the prior year. Currently, all signs indicate that we will be able to reach this goal," says Dr. Thomas Olemotz. Bechtle KPIs for the Second Quarter and First Half of 2014 <pre> Q2/2014 Q2/2013 +/- H1/2014 H1/2013 +/- Revenue EURk 603,676 518,517 +16.4% 1,190,372 1,032,467 +15.3% Domestic EURk 403,466 351,969 +14.6% 798,764 698,487 +14.4% Abroad EURk 200,210 166,548 +20.2% 391,608 333,980 +17.3% IT system house EURk 388,826 343,290 +13.3% 775,266 684,698 +13.2% IT e-commerce EURk 214,850 175,227 +22.6% 415,106 347,769 +19.4% EBIT EURk 23,342 14,973 +55.9% 44,503 29,466 +51.0% IT system house EURk 12,972 7,663 +69.3% 26,640 15,058 +76.9% IT e-commerce EURk 10,370 7,310 +41.9% 17,863 14,408 +24.0% EBIT margin % 3.9 2.9 3.7 2.9 EBT EURk 23,103 14,592 +58.3% 43,935 28,678 +53.2% EBT margin % 3.8 2.8 3.7 2.8 EAT EURk 16,422 10,401 +57.9% 31,224 20,476 +52.5% EPS EUR 0.79 0.50 +57.9% 1.49 0.98 +52.5% OCF EURk -3,952 -6,855 -42.3% -876 11,606 -107.5% Employees (average) 6,387 6,043 +5.7% 6,343 6,003 +5.7% </pre> <pre> 30.06.2014 31.12.2013 +/- Liquidity* EURk 113,525 156,105 -27.3% Equity ratio % 57.6 55.1 Employees 6,393 6,219 +2.8% </pre> *Including time deposits and securities *** The interim financial report for the second 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 online resellers 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 conventional IT trading business. 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 on 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 D-74172 Neckarsulm 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 08.08.2014 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 281117 08.08.2014