DGAP-News: Bechtle AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results/Interim Report Bechtle AG Reports Significant Growth 12.11.2014 / 07:30 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bechtle AG Reports Significant Growth - Revenue up 10.6 per cent in Q3 - Above-average EBIT growth of 19.3 per cent - Forecast concretised for 2014 as a whole Neckarsulm, 12 November 2014 - Bechtle AG continued on its growth path in the third quarter of 2014. From July to September, the revenue increased 10.6 per cent to EUR618.3 million. Year on year, operating income (EBIT) went up 19.3 per cent to EUR30.0 million. This very positive development was supported by both business segments. "In the third quarter, we successfully followed up on the first half of the year, which had already been excellent. We have reason to be more than satisfied with our double-digit revenue and earnings increase. Our growth continued to be broadly supported by both business segments. We are also delighted with the further growth of our team and the high training ratio of about 9 per cent in Germany," says Dr. Thomas Olemotz, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bechtle AG. Service Business Especially Strong Abroad The IT system house & managed services segment increased its revenue 9.2 per cent to EUR420.6 million (prior year: EUR385.0 million). The performance of our foreign system houses, which were able to boost their revenue share by 19.9 per cent from EUR36.9 million to EUR44.2 million, was especially noteworthy. In Germany, the revenue amounted to EUR376.3 million, an increase of 8.1 per cent (prior year: EUR348.2 million). In the third quarter of 2014, the segment operating income increased 14.8 per cent to EUR19.6 million (prior year: EUR17.0 million). The EBIT margin amounted to 4.6 per cent, compared to 4.4 per cent in the prior year. IT E-Commerce Reports Excellent Margin Performance In the reporting period, the revenue in the IT e-commerce segment improved 13.8 per cent from EUR173.8 million to EUR197.7 million. The increase of the foreign e-commerce companies was especially high. They boosted their revenues by 16.1 per cent to EUR135.0 million (prior year: 116.2 million). The increase was distributed over all international markets of the Bechtle Group. Domestic revenues climbed 9.1 per cent to EUR62.8 million. Year on year, EBIT increased 28.7 per cent to EUR10.5 million. The margin went up from 4.7 per cent to an outstanding 5.3 per cent. Impressive Balance Sheet KPIs The balance sheet KPIs of Bechtle AG illustrate the group's financial strength and health. As of 30 September, cash and cash equivalents amounted to a comfortable EUR118.7 million. On this basis, Bechtle can easily pre-finance large projects and realise potential acquisitions. The equity ratio improved from 55.1 per cent to 59.4 per cent. The extrapolated return on equity also reached an excellent value of 14.5 per cent. 130 New Trainees As of the reporting date 30 September 2014, the Bechtle Group had a total of 6,534 employees (including 476 trainees), a year-on-year increase of 384. The increase of 6.2 per cent is the result of new recruitment as well as acquisitions. Training remains a major area of Bechtle's HR work. Thus, 130 young men and women embarked on their training at Bechtle AG on 1 September. Annual Forecast Concretised We are confident that our revenue and earnings position will outperform the prior year in the fourth quarter as well. However, we expect the dynamics to be weaker than in the preceding nine months. Thus, we can now be more specific about our original forecast for the year as a whole in that we continue to anticipate a significant revenue increase and substantial earnings growth for 2014. "Thanks to an excellent team performance, we are set to achieve new record figures in 2014. Now, our main challenge is to perpetuate this success next year," says Dr. Thomas Olemotz. Bechtle KPIs for the Third Quarter and Nine-Month Period of 2014

                         Q3/2014 Q3/2013     +/-   9M/2014   9M/2013    +/-
Revenue            EURk  618,281 558,805  +10.6% 1,808,653 1,591,272 +13.7%
  Domestic         EURk  439,085 405,704   +8.2% 1,237,849 1,104,191 +12.1%
  Abroad           EURk  179,196 153,101  +17.0%   570,804   487,081 +17.2%
  IT system house  EURk  420,559 385,049   +9.2% 1,195,825 1,069,747 +11.8%
  IT e-commerce    EURk  197,722 173,756  +13.8%   612,828   521,525 +17.5%
EBIT               EURk   30,040  25,173  +19.3%    74,543    54,639 +36.4%
  IT system house  EURk   19,550  17,023  +14.8%    46,190    32,081 +44.0%
  IT e-commerce    EURk   10,490   8,150  +28.7%    28,353    22,558 +25.7%
EBIT margin           %      4.9     4.5               4.1       3.4
EBT                EURk   29,852  24,749  +20.6%    73,787    53,427 +38.1%
EBT margin            %      4.8     4.4               4.1       3.4
EAT                EURk   21,146  17,609  +20.1%    52,370    38,085 +37.5%
EPS                 EUR     1.00    0.83  +20.1%      2.49      1.81 +37.5%
OCF                EURk   12,514   6,225 +101.0%    11,638    17,831 -34.7%
Employees (average)        6,436   6,072   +6.0%     6,374     6,026  +5.8%

                              30.09.2014        31.12.2013              +/-
Liquidity*         EURk          118,706           156,105           -24.0%
Equity ratio          %             59.4              55.1   
Employees                          6,534             6,219            +5.1%

*including time deposits and securities *** The interim financial report for the third quarter of 2014 is available for download at www.bechtle.com/reports. About Bechtle As a one-stop IT provider, Bechtle AG is active with over 65 system houses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and is one of Europe's leading online dealers for information technology, with subsidiaries in 14 countries. This combination forms the basis of Bechtle's trend-setting business model, which links IT services to the conventional marketing of IT products. Established in 1983 and headquartered in Neckarsulm, Germany, the company offers a one-stop, vendor-independent, comprehensive IT portfolio to its more than 75,000 customers from the fields of industry and trade, the public sector and the financial industry. Bechtle has been quoted on the stock exchange since 2000 and has been listed in the TecDAX technology index since 2004. In the fiscal year 2013, the group generated revenues of more than EUR2.2 billion. Contact Bechtle AG Bechtle Platz 1 D-74172 Neckarsulm, Germany Investor Relations Corporate Communications/Press Martin Link Sabine Brand [email protected] [email protected] Tel.: +49 7132 981-4149 Tel.: +49 7132 981-4115 Fax: +49 7132 981-4116 Fax: +49 7132 981-4116 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.11.2014 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: Bechtle AG Bechtle Platz 1 74172 Neckarsulm Germany Phone: +49 7132 981-0 Fax: +49 7132 981-8000 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.bechtle.com ISIN: DE0005158703 WKN: 515870 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 296202 12.11.2014