UK contributes to Bechtle's revenue surge

CEO Thomas Olemotz says Bechtle will better last year's numbers

Bechtle's CEO is "convinced" that the firm's full-year 2019 results will "very significantly" exceed last year's, after the German reseller posted high growth across the board in Q2.

For the three months between 1 April and 31 June, operating profit (EBIT) ballooned by 30 per cent to €57.06m, on revenues that rocketed 30.2 per cent to €1.26bn.

The surprise growth comes after Olemotz lowered Bechtle's sales growth forecast for full-year 2019. In an interview with Bloomberg, the CEO said he expects single-digit year-on-year revenue growth in 2019, claiming that the firm would struggle to match its impressive 29.8 per cent growth in Q1.

He also said Bechtle will probably miss its target of reaching a five per cent EBT margin by 2020.

But Q2 only saw continued momentum for the German reseller. Its IT System House business grew revenues by 20.4 per cent in Q2 while its e-commerce arm saw a staggering 54.8 per cent growth, driven by a 64.1 per cent increase in international sales.

Organic growth came in at 16.9 per cent, Bechtle claims, while EBIT margin was steady at 4.5 per cent.

From a geographic standpoint, sales in Germany were up 21.4 per cent to €797.73m, while overseas sales leapt by 50.4 per cent to €463.077.

Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK exhibited particularly strong organic growth, Bechtle claims.

"Our performance was again extremely good in the second quarter. We are particularly pleased to see that all countries and both segments alike contributed to this growth. Especially in view of the deteriorated economic conditions, our results deliver compelling evidence of our competitive strength", said Olemotz.

"Despite the macroeconomic slowdown, we are convinced that we will reach the goals we have adopted for the year. Supported by the very strong first half of the year, we expect our revenue and earnings performance to very significantly exceed the prior year."