1 S T QUARTER 2021

QUARTERLY STATEMENT AS OF 31 MARCH 2021

Your strong IT partner. Today and tomorrow.

KEY FIGURES OF THE BECHTLE GROUP AT A GLANCE

	01.01– 31.03.2021	01.01– 31.03.2020	Change in %
Revenue €k	1,510,202	1,355,674	11.4
IT System House & Managed Services €k	971,303	859,116	13.1
IT E-Commerce €k	538,899	496,558	8.5
EBITDA €k	86,951	76,185	14.1
IT System House & Managed Services €k	59,250	49,485	19.7
IT E-Commerce €k	27,701	26,700	3.7
EBIT €k	62,134	52,627	18.1
IT System House & Managed Services €k	41,066	32,489	26.4
IT E-Commerce €k	21,068	20,138	4.6
EBIT margin %	4.1	3.9
IT System House & Managed Services %	4.2	3.8
IT E-Commerce %	3.9	4.1
EBT €k	60,988	51,055	19.5
EBT margin %	4.0	3.8
Earnings after taxes €k	43,624	36,468	19.6
Earnings per share €	1.04	0.87	19.6
Return on equity1 %	16.3	15.4³
Cash flow from operating activities €k	20,573	23,456³	−12.3
Number of employees (as of 31.03)	12,306	11,768	4.6
IT System House & Managed Services	9,768	9,221	5.9
IT E-Commerce	2,538	2,547	−0.4

Equity ratio %	44.8	43.2
Working Capital €k	644,295	652,674	−1.3
Cash and cash equivalents2 €k	404,757	403,173	0.4
	31.03.2021	31.12.2020	Change in %

1 Annualised

2 Incl. time deposits and securities 3 Prior year adjusted

REVIEW BY QUARTER 2021

	1st Quarter 01.01–31.03	2021 FY 01.01–31.03
Revenue €k	1,510,202	1,510,202
EBITDA €k	86,951	86,951
EBIT €k	62,134	62,134
EBT €k	60,988	60,988
EBT margin %	4.0	4.0
Earnings after taxes €k	43,624	43,624

EARNINGS POSITION

In the first three months of 2021, the Bechtle Group achieved impressive year-on-year growth despite the persistently difficult framework conditions.

As of 31 March, the order backlog amounted to €1,088 million (prior year: €908 million). Of this amount, the IT System House & Managed Services segment accounted for €829 million (prior year: €725 million), and the IT E-Commerce segment for €259 million (prior year: €183 million).

Year on year, the revenue in the period from January to March went up by 11.4 per cent to €1,510.2 million. At 10.4 per cent, Bechtle's organic growth accounted for the major part of the growth.

The growth achieved by the domestic companies (12.4 per cent) was a bit stronger than the growth achieved abroad (9.8 per cent). The domestic trading companies reported particularly high growth of 19.8 per cent. The system houses abroad recorded the highest growth of 22.4 per cent.

	REVENUE BY SEGMENTS								€m
0	250	500	750	1,000	1,250	1,500	1,750	2,000	Total
Q1/2020			859.1		496.6				1,355.7
				971.3		538.9			1,510.2
Q1/2021									(+11.4%)

IT System House & Managed Services IT E-Commerce

The IT E-Commerce segment increased its revenue by 8.5 per cent. At 13.1 per cent, the growth in the IT System House & Managed Services segment was even stronger. Organically, the segment grew by 11.4 per cent.

REVENUE – GROUP AND SEGMENTS
	Q1/2021	Q1/2020	Change
Group	1,510,202	1,355,674	+11.4%
Domestic	931,542	828,748	+12.4%
Abroad	578,660	526,926	+9.8%
IT System House & Managed Services	971,303	859,116	+13.1%
IT E-Commerce	538,899	496,558	+8.5%

Gross earnings went up by 6.8 per cent. The gross margin dropped from 15.0 per cent to 14.4 per cent. Especially the material costs increased at an above-average rate. The below-average increase in depreciation and amortisation in cost of sales and the significant decline in other operating expenses were unable to counteract this development.

The expenses in the two functional areas, sales and administration, developed differently. In sales, expenses increased by 10.8 per cent, a rate similar to that of the revenue increase, and the expense ratio thus remained stable at 5.7 per cent. In the field of administration, expenses dropped by 4.5 per cent. The administrative expense ratio thus receded from 5.7 per cent to 4.9 per cent. This was due to the changed allocation of employees to the respective functional areas.

Year on year, EBITDA rose by 14.1 per cent. At 5.8 per cent, the EBITDA margin was higher than in the prior year (5.6 per cent).

Depreciation and amortisation increased by 5.3 per cent. As previously, depreciation of property, plant and equipment accounted for the greatest share of the depreciation and amortisation, rising from €19.9 million to €20.8 million.

Year on year, EBIT increased by 18.1 per cent to €62.1 million. The EBIT margin rose from 3.9 per cent to 4.1 per cent.

Year on year, the tax rate declined slightly from 28.6 per cent to 28.5 per cent.

Earnings after taxes went up 19.6 per cent to €43.6 million. EPS thus amounted to €1.04.

At segment level, the earnings situation was as follows:

EBIT in the IT System House & Managed Services segment increased 26.4 per cent to €41.1 million. This item was affected by the cost savings due to the coronavirus pandemic and a higher level of efficiency in service delivery. As a result, the EBIT margin went up from 3.8 per cent to 4.2 per cent.

In the IT E-Commerce segment, EBIT went up 4.6 per cent to €21.1 million. Due to the different cost structure, the cost savings due to the coronavirus pandemic did not affect this item too much. The EBIT margin declined from 4.1 per cent to 3.9 per cent.

EBIT – GROUP AND SEGMENTS
	Q1/2021	Q1/2020	Change
Group	62,134	52,627	+18.1%
IT System House & Managed Services	41,066	32,489	+26.4%
IT E-Commerce	21,068	20,138	+4.6%

ASSETS AND FINANCIAL POSITION

The balance sheet total of the Bechtle Group as of 31 March 2021 amounted to €2,690.0 million, a level almost the same as of 31 December 2020.

On the assets side, non-current assets did not undergo any major changes and amounted to €955.2 million as of the reporting date.

Among the current assets, the inventories climbed by €53.9 million. This was due to the higher stock levels in anticipation of foreseeable supply bottlenecks in the coming months. In the first quarter, trade receivables declined by €77.2 million from the high balance as of the end of the year. Our average DSO (days sales outstanding) underwent a year-on-year decline from 41.7 days to 41.1 days as of 31 March 2021. The Bechtle Group's total liquidity (cash and cash equivalents including time deposits and securities) is at a very comfortable level of €404.8 million.

LIQUIDITY (INCLUDING TIME DEPOSITS AND SECURITIES) €m

As of 31 March 2021, the working capital stood at €644.3 million, 1.3 per cent less than as of 31 December 2020. Though the inventories increased, the high volume of receivables dropped significantly compared to the end of the year.

On the equity and liabilities side, non-current liabilities amounted to €588.5 million, compared to €599.9 as of the end of the year. Among the current liabilities, other liabilities declined by €30.8 million. This was due especially to the lower liabilities to personnel as a result of the variable compensation components paid out in the first quarter and reduced VAT liabilities.

Owing to the higher earnings, the equity rose by €43.6 million compared to 31 December 2020, reaching €1,205.6 million. The equity ratio went up from 43.2 per cent to 44.8 per cent. The extrapolated return on equity increased from 15.4 per cent to 16.3 per cent as of 31 March 2021.

The cash flow from operating activities is developing steadily and amounted to €20.6 million in the first quarter of 2021. Despite the higher stock build-up due to expected supply bottlenecks, the cash outflow was lower than in the corresponding prior-year period. The inflow from the reduction in trade receivables was further increased.

In the first quarter of 2021, the free cash flow underwent a positive development, increasing to €11.8 million.

PEOPLE AT BECHTLE

As of the reporting date of 31 March 2021, the Bechtle Group had a total of 12,306 employees, including 624 trainees. Compared to 31 March 2020, the headcount thus went up by 538, an increase of 4.6 per cent. The increase in the number of employees is the result of acquisitions and new recruitment. Since the end of 2020, Bechtle's number of employees went up by 126.

EMPLOYEES IN THE GROUP

As of the reporting date of 31 March 2021, the System House segment had a total of 9,768 employees, a year-on-year increase of 547 or 5.9 per cent. The system houses abroad recorded a higher growth of 8.2 per cent. In the IT E-Commerce segment, the number of employees was 2,538, almost the same as on 31 March 2020.

EMPLOYEES BY SEGMENTS

	9,000	11,000	12,000	Total
Q1/20	9,221	2,547		11,768
	9,736		2,444	12,180
Q4/20	9,768		2,538	12,306
Q1/21				(+4.6%) vs.Q1/20

IT System House & Managed Services IT E-Commerce

In the first quarter of 2021, the average number of employees in the Group amounted to 12,265, a yearon-year increase of 578 or 4.9 per cent.

As of 31 March 2021, Bechtle had 624 young trainees, 36 fewer than in the prior year.

FORECAST

On the global IT market, there is currently a shortage of vital upstream products. This situation has intensified in recent weeks. The short supply of semiconductors and displays is set to continue in the coming months. This impacts virtually all IT products. Despite these uncertainties and the risks they involve, we are confident that the Bechtle Group will continue to perform well, achieving significant revenue and earnings growth. Therefore, we confirm our forecast for the 2021 fiscal year as published on pages 105 to 114 of our annual report 2020.

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

	€k
01.01– 31.03.2021	01.01– 31.03.2020
1,510,202	1,355,674
1,293,332	1,152,680
216,870	202,994
86,136	77,712
73,935	77,425
5,335	4,770
62,134	52,627
576	224
1,722	1,796
60,988	51,055
17,364	14,587
43,624	36,468
1.04	0.87
42,000	42,000

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

		€k
	01.01– 31.03.2021	01.01– 31.03.2020
Earnings after taxes	43,624	36,468
Other comprehensive income
Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods
Actuarial gains and losses on pension provisions	185	−1,716
Income tax effects	−38	329
Items that will be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods
Unrealised gains and losses on securities	246	−46
Income tax effects	−90	−3
Currency translation differences of net investments in foreign operations	6,027	1,327
Income tax effects	−1,816	−394
Currency translation differences	−4,549	5,282
Other comprehensive income	−35	4,779
of which income tax effects	−1,944	−68
Total comprehensive income (attributable to shareholders of Bechtle AG)	43,589	41,247

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

ASSETS			€k
	31.03.2021	31.12.2020	31.03.2020
Non-current assets
Goodwill	445,680	448,313	400,658
Other intangible assets	108,782	113,241	115,616
Property, plant and equipment	327,414	327,215	304,991
Trade receivables	53,992	55,903	40,914
Deferred taxes	12,092	6,770	4,025
Other assets	7,257	7,448	7,048
Time deposits and securities	0	0	30,000
Total non-current assets	955,217	958,890	903,252
Current assets
Inventories	355,555	301,663	375,939
Trade receivables	799,959	877,173	779,657
Income tax receivables	3,669	2,289	1,954
Other assets	170,798	143,928	142,864
Time deposits and securities	90,311	40,002	10,001
Cash and cash equivalents	314,446	363,171	245,059
Total current assets	1,734,738	1,728,226	1,555,474
Total assets	2,689,955	2,687,116	2,458,726

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES				€k
		31.03.2021	31.12.2020	31.03.2020
Equity
Issued capital		42,000	42,000	42,000
Capital reserves		124,228	124,228	124,228
Retained earnings	1,039,390		995,801	889,861
Total equity	1,205,618		1,162,029	1,056,089
Non-current liabilities
Pension provisions		32,177	31,022	31,946
Other provisions		11,220	11,055	10,976
Financial liabilities		379,413	393,541	388,628
Trade payables		6,719	6,262	90
Deferred taxes		27,626	26,140	32,865
Other liabilities		106,785	108,590	112,146
Contract liabilities		23,430	20,884	17,794
Deferred income		1,115	2,393	1,434
Total non-current liabilities		588,485	599,887	595,879
Current liabilities
Other provisions		30,328	22,831	12,204
Financial liabilities		34,633	18,913	13,852
Trade payables		400,608	425,875	420,306
Income tax payables		33,863	45,964	18,195
Other liabilities		223,161	253,921	192,403
Contract liabilities		140,044	130,594	121,155
Deferred income		33,215	27,102	28,643
Total current liabilities		895,852	925,200	806,758
Total equity and liabilities	2,689,955		2,687,116	2,458,726

Bechtle AG Quarterly Statement as of 31 March 2021

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
---------------------------------------------	--	--	--

€k
		Retained earnings
Issued capital	Capital reserves	Accrued profits	Changes in equity outside profit or loss	Total	Total equity (attributable to shareholders of Bechtle AG)
42,000	124,228	840,067	8,547	848,614	1,014,842
		36,468		36,468	36,468
			4,779	4,779	4,779
0	0	36,468	4,779	41,247	41,247
42,000	124,228	876,535	13,326	889,861	1,056,089
42,000	124,228	982,214	13,587	995,801	1,162,029
		43,624		43,624	43,624
			−35	−35	−35
0	0	43,624	−35	43,589	43,589
42,000	124,228	1,025,838	13,552	1,039,390	1,205,618

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

		€k
	01.01– 31.03.2021	01.01– 31.03.2020
Operating activities
Earnings before taxes	60,988	51,055
Adjustment for non-cash expenses and income
Financial earnings	1,146	1,572
Depreciation and amortisation of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment	24,817	23,558
Gains and losses on disposal of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment	−36	16
Other non-cash expenses and income	11,704	6,375
Changes in net assets
Changes in inventories	−54,243	−89,870
Changes in trade receivables	76,442	73,820
Changes in trade payables	−24,767	12,846
Changes in deferred income	17,092	19,798
Changes in other net assets	−55,958	−58,586¹
Income taxes paid	−36,612	−17,128
Cash flow from operating activities	20,573	23,456¹
Investing activity
Cash paid for acquisitions less cash acquired	−291	−2,560
Cash paid for investments in intangible assets and property, plant and equipment	−9,744	−15,346
Cash received from the sale of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment	1,308	2,224
Cash paid for aquisitions of time deposits and securities	−50,309	−40,001
Interest payments received	483	199
Cash flow from investing activities	−58,553	−55,484
Financing activities
Cash paid for the repayment of financial liabilities	−4,212	−3,324
Cash received from the assumption of financial liabilities	5,803	18,129
Interest paid	−736	−680¹
Outflow for the repayment of finance leases	−12,072	−10,777
Cash flow from financing activities	−11,217	3,348¹
Exchange-rate-related changes in cash and cash equivalents	472	1,542
Changes in cash and cash equivalents	−48,725	−27,138
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period	363,171	272,197
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	314,446	245,059

¹ Prior year adjusted

FINANCIAL CALENDAR

QUARTERLY STATEMENT 1ST QUARTER 2021 (31 MARCH) Tuesday, 11 May 2021

VIRTUAL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Tuesday, 15 June 2021

HALF-YEAR FINANCIAL REPORT 2021 (30 JUNE) Thursday, 12 August 2021

QUARTERLY STATEMENT 3RD QUARTER 2021 (30 SEPTEMBER) Thursday, 11 November 2021

See bechtle.com/financial-calendar for further dates and changes.

Publisher/Contact

Bechtle AG Bechtle Platz 1 74172 Neckarsulm Germany

Investor Relations

Martin Link Julia Hofmann Ilka Freund

Phone +49 7132 981-4149 Phone +49 7132 981-4153 Phone +49 7132 981-3378 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

The Quarterly Statement Q1/2021 was published on 11 May 2021.

Bechtle AG Bechtle Platz 1, 74172 Neckarsulm Germany

Phone +49(0)7132 981-0 [email protected] bechtle.com