Bechtle AG — Earnings Release 2009

May 14, 2009

News Details

Corporate | 14 May 2009 07:30

Bechtle AG: First quarter revenue and earnings characterised by poor economic conditions

Bechtle AG / Quarter Results/Interim Report

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Bechtle AG: First quarter revenue and earnings characterised by poor
economic conditions

• At 319 million Euros, revenue dropped by approx. 5 per cent compared to
  the previous year's quarter

• Earnings before taxes: 6 million Euros

• Positive cash flow increases liquidity reserve to 125 million Euros

• Solid equity ratio of 66 per cent

Neckarsulm, 14 May 2009 - The Bechtle group's business development in the
first quarter of 2009 reflects the recessive economic situation and its
influence on nearly all sectors. The IT trading and service company was not
able to continue the success of the previous quarters due to the noticeable
decline in market demand. At 318.9 million Euros the group's revenue fell
off pace from the previous year's outcome by 5.3 per cent (previous year:
336.9 million Euros). Earnings before taxes declined by 49 per cent to 6.1
million Euros (previous year: 12.0 million Euros). Based on 21.0 million
shares (previous year: 21.2 million shares), earnings per share totaled
0.21 Euro compared to 0.41 Euro in the previous year.

'The effects of the financial and economic crises have hit Bechtle hard in
the first quarter of 2009. The magnitude of the downturn was not
foreseeable, especially considering the record-setting month that Bechtle
turned in in December', explained Dr. Thomas Olemotz, spokesman of the
executive board of Bechtle AG.

Public sector demand provides stabilising effect

At 207.3 million Euros for the first three months of the fiscal year 2009,
the revenue in the IT system house & Managed Services segment remained
roughly on par with the previous year's quarter of 207.7 million Euros.
Especially considering the growing reluctancy among industry customers, the
increased demand in the public sector had a particularly stabilising effect
in this segment. The domestic system houses recorded a reduction in revenue
by 2.0 per cent to 171.2 million Euros. The system houses outside of
Germany recorded a 9.5 per cent growth (33.0 million Euros to 36.1 million
Euros) due to the consolidation of the two Austrian locations. The organic
revenue dropped by 2.9 per cent compared to the previous year's quarter for
this segment.

The earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the IT system house &
Managed Services segment sank by 48.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2009
to 3.0 million Euros (previous year: 5.8 million Euros), bringing the EBIT
margin down to 1.5 per cent (previous year: 2.8 per cent). The decline is
predominantly attributed to the increase in employees along with a decrease
in workload.

E-commerce segment burdened by sagging demand

The IT e-commerce segment was more adversely affected by the economic
conditions as compared to the system house segment. The revenue in the
e-commerce segment decreased by 13.6 per cent to 111.6 million Euros
(previous year: 129.2 million Euros). However, one has to take the sale of
TomTech into consideration. Without the deconsolidation of TomTech from the
Bechtle group, the segment would have recorded an 11.0 percent decline in
revenue. The lion's share of revenue was generated abroad. At 76.5 million
Euros (previous year: 87.8 million Euros), the revenue generated abroad
accounts for approximately 68.5 percent of the segment's revenue (previous
year: 68.0 per cent). In Germany, the trading companies contributed 35.1
million Euros (previous year: 41.4 million Euros), 31.5 per cent of the
segment's revenue (previous year: 32.0 per cent).

The first quarter of the current fiscal year has seen a decline in EBIT
from 5.8 million Euros in the previous year's quarter to 2.8 million Euros.
The EBIT margin of 2.5 per cent has decreased from last year's margin (4.5
per cent). Apart from a significant reduction in the propensity to consume,
the results can be attributed to the fall in hardware component prices.

Solid balance sheet structure and significantly increased cash flow

Equity rose from 311.4 million Euros to 314.1 million Euros on 31 March
2009. The equity ratio increased to 66.7 per cent due to a shortened
balance sheet and the earnings after taxes in the first quarter (31
December 2008: 62.8 per cent). The cash and cash equivalents including
securities available for sale increased by 8.6 per cent to 84.3 million
Euros. Bechtle possesses unused credit lines in the amount of 40.7 million
Euros, giving the company, as of 31 March 2009, a comfortable liquidity
reserve in the amount of 125.0 million Euros.

The cash flow from operating activities has more than tripled its value in
the first three months of 2009 compared to last year's quarter to 13.4
million Euros (previous year: 4.3 million Euros). This was mainly caused by
changes in the net assets. The cash inflow from the reduction of trade
receivables was 3.2 million Euros higher, while the cash outflow from the
reduction of trade payables was 10.4 million Euros lower.

Initiated measures to ensure target results

Based on all the important economic indicators, the executive board of the
Bechtle group does not at this time foresee any significant improvements in
the economic situation for the coming months. 'We are continuing with our
measures that we first initiated at the beginning of the year in order to
secure future results in the current difficult economic parameters. We are
proceeding in a very careful manner, taking each location into
consideration on an individual basis, ensuring that we do not endanger the
future viability or long term success of the Bechtle group,' explains Dr.
Thomas Olemotz.

                                           Q1/2009   Q1/2008    Change

Revenue th. EUR 318 870 336 856 -5.3 %
Domestic th. EUR 206 318 216 084 -4.5 %
Abroad th. EUR 112 552 120 772 -6.8 %
IT System House & Managed Services th. EUR 207 272 207 663 -0.2 %
IT e-commerce th. EUR 111 598 129 193 -13.6 %
EBITDA th. EUR 9 259 14 975 -38.2 %
EBIT th. EUR 5 782 11 618 -50.2 %
IT System House & Managed Services th. EUR 3 015 5 808 -48.1 %
IT e-commerce th. EUR 2 767 5 810 -52.4 %
EBT th. EUR 6 127 12 010 -49.0 %
Earnings after taxes th. EUR 4 329 8 730 -50.4 %
Earnings per share EUR 0.21 0.41 -49.8 %
Operative cash flow th. EUR 13 378 4 286 212.1 %

                                       31/03/09       31/12/08   Change

Cash and cash equivalents incl.
securities th. EUR 84 280 77 638 8.6 %
Equity ratio % 65.7 62.8

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The interim report for the first quarter 2009 is available for download at
www.bechtle.com/gb.

About Bechtle

The Bechtle Group has more than 50 system houses in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland and is one of Europe's leading IT e-commerce providers with
trading companies in eleven countries. Founded in 1983, the
Neckarsulm-based company currently employs around 4 400 people. Bechtle is
a manufacturer-independent company that provides one-stop shopping for all
the IT infrastructure and operation needs of its more than
56 000 predominantly small and medium-sized industrial, public sector and
financial market customers. Bechtle has been quoted on the stock exchange
since 2000 and is listed in the TecDAX technology index since 2004. In
2008, turnover was at 1.43 thousand million Euros.

Contact:
Bechtle AG
Investor Relations
Thomas Fritsche
Telefon: +49 7132/981-4121
Martin Link
Telefon: +49 7132/981-4149
Telefax: +49 7132/981-4116
ir@bechtle.com

14.05.2009 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

Language: English
Issuer: Bechtle AG
Bechtle Platz 1
74172 Neckarsulm
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)71 32/ 9 81-0
Fax: +49 (0)7132/ 9 81 - 8000
E-mail: ir@bechtle.com
Internet: www.bechtle.com
ISIN: DE0005158703
WKN: 515870
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Hannover, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart

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