EET in expansion mode as profits double

Simon Smith: Big will get bigger and the niche will get more profitable

Distributor EET Nordic claims its niche focus on spare parts is allowing it to thrive after virtually doubling its annual profits.

The Denmark-based outfit, which only launched in the UK in 2007, saw revenue rise 22 per cent to €130m (£107m) in its fiscal year to June, as EBITA profits jumped from €5m to €9.7m.

The distributor has made four acquisitions in the last 24 months and has just opened up new offices in the Czech Republic and Austria, bringing the number of countries it operates in to 16.

EET specialises in spare parts for computers and printers and last year shipped more than 500,000 spare parts to 35,000 different buying customers.

UK managing director Simon Smith said the results point to a healthy future for distributors with a specialist bent.

“In the UK we more than doubled sales and increased profit by over ten times,” he said. “I believe the big will get bigger and the niche will get more profitable. The guys in the middle will get squeezed.”

EET Nordic has set itself the goal of boosting group profits by a further 50 to 100 per cent and chief executive John Thomas was in a bullish mood.

“We will continue to invest in new products, in new territories, as well as attract some of the best people in the industry,” he said. “This development will be organic, but also a result of further acquisitions.”