Bell sees European sales dip

Distributor Bell Micro has revealed a slight decline in European revenues in its financial results for 2008's first quarter.

The results for the three months to 31 March indicated the company's global revenues were up 2 per cent on last year to between $1.01bn and $1.02bn, (about £515m). But European revenues, which accounted for 42 per cent of the worldwide total, declined 3 per cent on the Q1 2007 figure. The distributor was unable to provide any figures for quarterly profit.

European growth in storage systems revenues was offset by a decline in sales of the distributor's Solutions products and its software. Bell Micro's Components and Peripherals category experienced a 6 per cent drop in European revenues, which the company attributed in part to lower sales of disk drives.

Bell Micro reassured its vendor and reseller partners it was business as usual at the company last month (CRN Online, 19 March) after it was delisted from NASDAQ, having failed to submit accounts on time.

Bell Micro chief executive Donald Bell said: "We generated modest year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter despite the economy and slower technology spending. In this softer environment, we believe that we maintained our market share in key product categories.

"In Europe, our revenue decreased slightly in both US dollars and local currency, primarily from our commercial accounts in the UK and on the Continent. As a result of lower than expected sales in certain product categories, we anticipate reporting a sequential decline in gross margins in the first quarter in part due to a decrease in supplier incentives. Although the economic environment may be challenging in the coming months, our focus remains on solid execution in our business and profitability through the balance of 2008."