VII. Segment Information

Segment information is provided in accordance with IFRS 8 “Operating Segments”.

Until the previous year, the business activity of the Bechtle Group was divided into two segments: IT System House & Managed Services and IT E-Commerce. Going forward, the Bechtle Group will bundle responsibility for all distribution channels in the national markets under a single Executive Board executive, resulting in the new reportable regional business segments Germany, France and Benelux. Smaller countries and smaller economic regions are reported under Other Europe. The Bechtle Group, with companies in 14 European countries, is thus placing a clear focus on expanding its multichannel offering across all markets and on further internationalisation. As a result, one member of the Executive Board will be responsible for the business in Germany and Austria. Another member of the Executive Board is responsible for all other national markets in which Bechtle is active with its own companies. These are France, Benelux, Switzerland, Southern Europe, the British Isles and Eastern Europe. In addition to further strengthening customer loyalty and improving market penetration, the consistent multichannel approach should also ensure positive economic effects through greater efficiency in processes.

During the 2025 fiscal year, Bechtle’s financial reports still followed the previous segment logic of IT System House & Managed Services on the one hand and IT E-Commerce on the other. The 2025 Annual Report marks the end of the segment approach that has been in place since the IPO in 2000 and follows the basic principle of the organisation. The operational areas of responsibility at divisional board and vice president level are therefore primarily allocated according to regional criteria. With the change in segmentation by region, the previous year was also adjusted accordingly.

In future, the Bechtle Group will therefore operate in the reportable regional business segments Germany, France and Benelux.

A distinction is only made between the segments at the level of the distribution channels. Previously, Bechtle managed the sales channels IT System House & Managed Services and IT E-Commerce as two separate areas of responsibility on the Executive Board. However, increasing internationalisation and the changing requirements of customers to obtain IT via all sales channels require a holistic view of the country markets. Placing responsibility under a single executive is intended to strengthen this ambition. The activities of the Germany segment therefore extend to all German sales channels. The France segment comprises all sales channels within France. The Benelux segment currently covers business in Belgium and the Netherlands, while the activities of the Other Europe category includes all sales channels in the national markets of Austria, Switzerland, Southern Europe, the British Isles and Eastern Europe.

Bechtle Group companies are primarily based in Germany. Foreign companies are located in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

The administration and the strategic management of the individual companies are centralised primarily at Gaildorf and Neckarsulm, where the parent company Bechtle AG and the group’s Executive Board are based.

As a general rule, the same reporting methods and accounting policies are applied for the segment information as for the consolidated financial statements. Internally, there was no change to principal-versus-agent (PvA) accounting in the 2020 fiscal year. Rather, the management takes place on the basis of the business volume (gross revenue). The Other Europe category contains information on the non-reportable operating segments Austria, Switzerland, Southern Europe, British Isles and Eastern Europe. Individually, they each account for less than 10 per cent of the unconsolidated revenue, less than 10 per cent of the earnings before taxes and less than 10 per cent of the assets of the Bechtle Group’s combined business segments.

The responsible corporate body within the meaning of IFRS 8.7 is the Executive Board of Bechtle AG, consisting of the Chair of the Executive Board and the two Executive Board members responsible for the country markets. This CODM is responsible for the cross-departmental, group-wide monitoring and management of the group success and resource allocation. Strategic decisions concerning the allocation of resources to the segments and the measurement of their earning power are made exclusively at Executive Board meetings of Bechtle AG in close coordination with the Supervisory Board. The two Executive Board members responsible for the country markets are each individually the segment manager (IFRS 8.9) for the Germany, France and Benelux operating segments as well as for the category of non-reportable operating segments Other Europe. In this capacity, they are in charge of the resource management and the assessment of the efficiency of the segments under their supervision. The segment manager also coaches the Executive Vice Presidents and managing directors in his segment. Vis-à-vis the CODM, the segment managers are responsible for their segment and maintain regular contact with the CODM, e.g. at Executive Board meetings, in order to report on and discuss the activities, results and plans of their segment.

The segment information presented below is based on the same indicators as those employed for the internal reporting and controlling system that are used above all by the group management/CODM for success evaluation and resource allocation purposes. As previously, management is based on business volume. It contains all income and expenses as well as the assets and liabilities of the central units/functions of the Bechtle Group in accordance with the relevant services provided or used in the segments. Earnings before taxes is the earnings-related key performance indicator for the segments. Amortisation from acquisitions relates to customer bases, customer service contracts, brands and internally developed software resulting from completed acquisitions. The financial earnings are included and recognised separately according to financial income and expenses. The share of profit or loss from investments measured using the equity method is also taken into account. This results in the earnings before taxes in the Bechtle Group and subsequently, taking into account the taxes at group level, the earnings after taxes in the Bechtle Group. The reconciliation includes the consolidation between the segments.

There is an asymmetrical allocation (IFRS 8.27) in that the recognised assets and liabilities of the segments include tax assets and liabilities. If they were allocated symmetrically, the segment assets and segment liabilities would be correspondingly lower and the earnings-related performance indicator for the segments would be expanded accordingly to include taxes.

There are transactions between the segments that are settled at market prices and are also explicitly recognised below in terms of business volume, receivables and liabilities for the sake of completeness and transparency. The consolidated revenue comprises the total revenue of segments with parties outside the group. The same applies to the receivables and payables as well as the assets and liabilities of the two segments and of the Bechtle Group as a whole.

The investments, depreciation and amortisation reported relate to intangible assets as well as to property, plant and equipment.

Of the consolidated revenue in the Other Europe category, €358,174 thousand is attributable to Switzerland (previous year: €391,456 thousand¹), €350,268 thousand to Southern Europe (previous year: €147,195 thousand), €263,565 thousand to the British Isles (previous year: €247,639 thousand), €230,797 thousand to Austria (previous year: €242,632 thousand) and €68,203 thousand to Eastern Europe (previous year: €60,776 thousand).

Internal management is not based on the change in principal-versus-agent accounting in the 2020 fiscal year, but continues to be based on business volume (gross sales). For this reason, a reconciliation with the external revenue is necessary for the presentation of the group as a whole. Depreciation and amortisation concern the ongoing depreciation and amortisation of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment.

No unscheduled depreciation and amortisation was carried out in the two segments beyond the scheduled depreciation and amortisation.

The non-current assets reported here comprise property, plant and equipment as well as intangible assets (including goodwill). Of the non-current assets in the Other Europe category, €227,109 thousand are attributable to Southern Europe (previous year: €60,412 thousand), €147,429 thousand to Switzerland (previous year: €181,341 thousand¹), €131,874 thousand to the British Isles (previous year: €143,452 thousand), €43,801 thousand to Austria (previous year: €40,231 thousand) and €2,034 thousand to Eastern Europe (previous year: €1,993 thousand).

Both in the reporting period and in the previous year, no single customer generated more than 10 per cent of the revenue of the Bechtle Group (IFRS 8.34).

Information on the number of employees by segments is provided in section X. Other disclosures, People at Bechtle.