Bechtle AG remains on course.

• EBIT up 21 per cent
• Revenue growth especially in system house segment
• Outlook for the year confirmed

Neckarsulm, 11 August 2016 – In the second quarter of 2016, the revenue of Bechtle AG increased 5.4% to €723.4m. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) underwent a disproportionately high growth of 21.0% to €32.3m. Earnings before taxes (EBT) amounted to €32.1m, and the EBT margin was 4.4% (prior year: 3.9%). As of 30 June 2016, the headcount had gone up to a total of 7,328 employees, a year-on-year increase of 390 people or 5.6%.

“Taking into account the extremely strong prior-year quarter, we have reason to be highly satisfied with the group’s performance in the second quarter, especially in view of the many strategic projects that Bechtle is currently pushing ahead. While these projects are key to our company’s future, they also involve a major input of resources”, explains Dr. Thomas Olemotz, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bechtle AG.

System House & Managed Services experiences earnings leap.

The IT System House & Managed Services segment increased its revenue 6.7% to €481.6m. As in the prior quarters, system houses in Germany were the growth drivers, gaining 7.9%. In the second quarter of 2016, segment EBIT climbed 48.3% to €20.4m. At 4.2%, the EBIT margin was significantly higher than in the prior year (3.1%). This outstanding performance especially reflects the increased share of premium services, such as managed services and cloud services. The system houses’ enhanced service offering for the transformation of existing IT architectures into modern cloud environments empowers Bechtle’s customers to thrive in their core business.

IT E-Commerce performance mixed.

In the reporting period, revenues in the IT E-commerce segment climbed 3.1% to €241.8m. While most of the trading companies performed very well, Bechtle was confronted with difficult industry conditions in some key e-commerce markets. EBIT amounted to €11.8m, less than the prior-year figure of €12.9m. The margin declined from 5.5% to 4.9%.

Moderate growth in headcount.

As of the reporting date 30 June 2016, the Bechtle Group had a total of 7,328 employees. This represents a year-on-year increase of 390 people or 5.6%. Most of the headcount increase took place in the IT System House & Managed Services segment. Training and development remains an important part of Bechtle’s HR work. As of 30 June 2016, Bechtle had a total of 402 young trainees.

Annual forecast confirmed.

Bechtle holds fast to its forecast that in 2016 as a whole, it will significantly outperform the prior year revenue and earnings figures, and confirms the forecast for 2016 that had been published in March. “The earnings performance in the first six months was excellent. Though these dynamics cannot automatically be extrapolated to the whole year, we are confident about the developments in the second half of 2016. Therefore, we confirm our expectations of high one-digit growth rates for revenues and earnings. Depending on the third-quarter development, we might even be able to exceed these targets” says Dr Thomas Olemotz.

Bechtle KPIs for the 2nd quarter of 2016.