Neckarsulm, 9 August 2019 – Despite the more difficult basic conditions, the high growth rate that Bechtle AG had exhibited since the beginning of the year further increased in the second quarter. From April to June 2019, the revenue went up 30.7 per cent to €1.26 billion. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved by 30.0 per cent to €57.1 million. Earnings before taxes (EBT) amounted to €55.7 million, and the EBT margin went down only slightly year-on-year from 4.5 per cent to 4.4 per cent. As of 30 June 2019, Bechtle had a total of 10,915 employees, 2,125 or 24.2 per cent more than in the previous year.
Organically, Bechtle was able to increase its revenue in the period from April to June 2019 by 16.9 per cent. The organic growth was especially strong in Germany, going up 18.3 per cent. “Our performance was again extremely good in the second quarter. We are particularly pleased to see that all countries and both segments alike contributed to this growth. Especially in view of the deteriorated economic conditions, our results deliver compelling evidence of our competitive strength”, explains Dr. Thomas Olemotz, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bechtle AG.
System House & Managed Services Report Growth in All Areas
In the IT System House & Management Services segment, the revenue climbed 20.4 per cent to €814.8 million. The IT system houses in Austria and Switzerland recorded growth of 18.1 per cent. In Germany, revenue even increased to 20.8 per cent. The organic growth amounted to 17.2 per cent. Impulses came especially from the fields of cloud services and managed services as well as from the conventional system house business. In the second quarter of 2019, EBIT climbed 19.2 per cent to €34.3 million. At 4.2 per cent, the EBIT margin remained at the prior-year level.
Improved Adjusted Margin in E-Commerce
The IT E-Commerce segment stepped up its revenue in the second quarter of 2019 by 54.8 per cent to €446 million. Owing to acquisitions, the growth rate was especially high abroad, reaching 64.1 per cent. Organically, our companies in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK in particular underwent above-average growth. Segment EBIT increased by a remarkable 50.5 per cent to €22.8 million. Though the reported margin dropped slightly from 5.3 to 5.1 per cent due to burdening effects from the purchase price allocation of Inmac WStore in France, it would have amounted to 5.5 per cent without these effects, a figure above that of the prior year.
EBT Impacted by Positive One-Time Effect
In the second quarter of 2019, other operating income totalled €11.3 million, considerably more than in the prior year (€2.1 million). The main reasons for this growth were the higher bonus payments of vendors and distributors and a positive one-time effect amounting to €4.4 million. Adjusted for the negative effects from purchase price allocations and without the positive one-time effect, the operating-only margin would have amounted to 4.3 per cent.
Optimistic Outlook for the Year Confirmed
Against the backdrop of the excellent performance in the first half of the year, the Executive Board remains highly confident with regard to the remaining months of the fiscal year. “Despite the macroeconomic slowdown, we are convinced that we will reach the goals we have adopted for the year. Supported by the very strong first half of the year, we expect our revenue and earnings performance to very significantly exceed the prior year”, says Dr. Thomas Olemotz.
Bechtle KPIs for the Second Quarter and First Half of 2019
| | Q2/2019 | Q2/2018 | +/- | H1/2019 | H1/2018 | +/- |
Revenue | €k | 1,260,804 | 964,970 | +30.7% | 2,500,752 | 1,920,359 | +30.2% |
Domestic | €k | 797,727 | 657,004 | +21.4% | 1,546,806 | 1,310,737 | +18.0% |
Abroad | €k | 463,077 | 307,966 | +50.4% | 953,946 | 609,622 | +56.5% |
IT System House | €k | 814,834 | 676,794 | +20.4% | 1,597,053 | 1,334,976 | +19.6% |
IT E-Commerce | €k | 445,970 | 288,176 | +54.8% | 903,699 | 585,383 | +54.4% |
EBIT | €k | 57,059 | 43,900 | +30.0% | 103,337 | 79,618 | +29.8% |
IT System House | €k | 34,271 | 28,755 | +19.2% | 60,641 | 52,827 | +14.8% |
IT E-Commerce | €k | 22,788 | 15,145 | +50.5% | 42,696 | 26,791 | +59.4% |
EBIT margin | % | 4.5 | 4.5 | | 4.1 | 4.1 | |
EBT | €k | 55,708 | 43,560 | +27.9% | 100,714 | 78,960 | +27.6% |
EBT margin | % | 4.4 | 4.5 | | 4.0 | 4.1 | |
Earnings after taxes | €k | 39,193 | 30,704 | +27.6% | 70,870 | 55,553 | +27.6% |
Earnings per share | € | 0.93 | 0.73 | +27.6% | 1.69 | 1.32 | +27.6% |
Cash flow from operating activities | €k | 7,584 | -6,586 | | -14,528 | 7,353 | |
Employees (as of 30 June) | | 10,915 | 8,790 | +24.2% | |
| | 30.06.2019 | 31.12.2018 | +/- |
Liquidity1 | €k | 118,378 | 250,922 | -52.8% |
Equity ratio | % | 42.7 | 43.6 | |
1 including time deposits and securities
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