Bechtle hails 'remarkable' Q2

EBIT soars by more than half on last year

Reseller Bechtle has said it is on track for a record year after a stellar Q2 saw both sales and profits jump annually in the double digits.

For the three months to 30 June, the Germany-headquartered reseller saw its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jump 55.9 per cent annually to €23.3m (£18.56m) on revenue which climbed 16.4 per cent to €603.7m over the same period.

The soaring figures were driven by strong performance in its IT Systems House and Managed Services unit, which saw EBIT rocket by 69.3 per cent year on year to €12.97m – a figure the reseller branded as "outstanding". Revenue in the division jumped 13.3 per cent to €388.8m over the same period.

The firm's chairman Thomas Olemotz thanked the firm's staff for their hard work in Q2.

"The revenue and earnings growth surpassed the prior year even more significantly than at the beginning of the year," he said. "The entire team deserves the praise for this remarkable achievement."

The firm's headcount now stands just shy of 6,400, with 340 of those joining over the past year. The company said staff are a key priority.

"The increase of 5.6 per cent is the result of acquisitions as well as new recruitment," it said. "Training remains a major area of Bechtle's human resources work. The high interest in training positions at Bechtle is a good indicator of this success."

Olemotz added that thanks to its strong Q2, the company could be in for its best year yet.

"In the first half of 2014, we laid an impressive foundation for attaining new record figures in the year as a whole, thereby significantly exceeding the revenue and earnings of the prior year," he said. "Currently, all signs indicate that we will be able to reach this goal."