Substantial upsurge in Bechtle's revenues and earnings in third quarter.

• Revenue up 32 per cent in Q3 to 426.9 million euros.
• EBT grows by 35 per cent to 16.1 million euros.
• Executive Board expects record revenue for 2010.

Neckarsulm, 11 November 2010 — Thanks to the steadily high demand in the third quarter, the revenues and earnings of Bechtle AG experienced excellent growth rates. Revenues increased by 32.0 per cent to 426.9 million euros (prior year: 323.3 million euros). This is the highest quarterly result achieved so far. Both segments effectively contributed to this growth. EBT climbed by 35.4 per cent to 16.1 million euros (prior year: 11.9 million euros). The EBT margin improved to 3.8 per cent, compared to 3.7 per cent in the corresponding prior-year quarter. Earnings after taxes surged by 45.4 per cent to 12.1 million euros (prior year: 8.3 million euros). Earnings per share increased from 0.40 euros to 0.58 euros.

"The third quarter performed better than we had expected. With a revenue growth of more than 30 per cent, we were able to top the dynamism of the prior quarters in an impressive manner and further expand our market share in Europe. In the first financial year after the global crisis, our revenue has already exceeded that of the former record year 2008, and the earnings are substantially higher than in the prior year. Naturally, we want to maintain this momentum in the final quarter," says Dr. Thomas Olemotz, CEO of Bechtle AG.

High Domestic Demand in the System House Segment.

In the third quarter of 2010, the revenue in the IT system house & managed services segment increased by 33.1 per cent to 287.4 million euros (prior year: 216.0 million euros). Due to acquisitions, the growth rate of the domestic system houses amounted to 34.5 per cent, compared to 24.7 per cent abroad. EBIT in this segment increased by 33.3 per cent to 9.8 million euros (prior year: 7.4 million euros). The EBIT margin remained stable at 3.4 per cent, a level that surpassed the industry average.

Further Internationalisation in IT E-Commerce.

In the trade business throughout Europe, the revenues in the reporting period increased by 30.0 per cent from 107.3 million euros to 139.5 million euros. The growth was exclusively organic. EBIT in the IT e-commerce segment climbed by 30.7 per cent from 4.4 million euros to 5.7 million euros. As in the prior year, the EBIT margin scored an excellent 4.1 per cent. The start-up costs of four new subsidiaries of Bechtle direct and Comsoft direct have been accounted for in the earnings figures.

Comfortable Equity.

As of 30 September 2010, the equity climbed to 353.5 million euros, compared to 335.0 million euros as of 31 December 2009. Due to the balance-sheet extension, the equity ratio dropped from 64.3 per cent to 63.2 per cent. Cash and cash equivalents including time deposits and securities amounted to 85.3 million euros (31 December 2009: 95.0 million euros), giving Bechtle sufficient buffer to finance future growth. In the nine-month period, the cash flow from operating activities receded to 4.7 million euros (prior year: 26.3 million euros). This was due to the high business performance, which resulted in a disproportionately high build-up of inventories and trade receivables.

Executive Board Expects Strong Close of 2010.

Bechtle is optimistic about the traditionally important year-end business. Despite the highly successful fourth quarter of 2009, the Executive Board expects the revenue and earnings in this year's final quarter to rise. The outlook for 2011 is also positive. Bechtle is benefiting from the timely implementation of measures to increase competitiveness as well as from the economic recovery, which has triggered an increase in the investment volume in the industry. "Though we figure that the economic dynamism will level out in 2011, we believe that Bechtle is in an excellent position to exploit the available market potential to an above-average extent," explains Dr. Thomas Olemotz.

KPIs for the third quarter and first nine months of 2010.