Solid balance sheet supports further growth
Successful placement of a Schuldschein loan
Equity ratio at 42.3%
Continued focus on working capital management
The Bechtle Group’s balance sheet total stood at €4,907.3 million as of 30 June 2026, significantly above the €4,574.7 million reported as of 31 December 2025.
Assets
Non-current assets increased from €1,885.0 million to €1,937.7 million. Goodwill in particular increased as a result of acquisitions. Other assets also rose, reflecting, among other things, higher contract assets arising from multi-year software licence agreements. Property, plant and equipment, by contrast, remained virtually unchanged. As the balance sheet total increased significantly, the non-current asset ratio declined from 41.2% to 39.5%.
Current assets increased by 10.4%, or €280.0 million, to €2,969.6 million. Compared with year-end 2025, inventories increased significantly by €222.5 million, while trade receivables declined by −€87.1 million. Contract assets included in other assets also increased from €214.1 million to €303.7 million, reflecting the strong operating performance. Average days sales outstanding (DSO) improved further, falling from 39.1 days in the same period of the previous year to 37.4 days in the first six months of 2026. Despite dividend payments and further acquisitions, cash and cash equivalents increased by €155.1 million to €533.9 million following the placement of a €450 million Schuldschein loan, providing attractive financing for further growth.
Working capital rose by 19.1% from year-end 2025 to €596.0 million as of 30 June 2026. The increase was driven primarily by a significant rise in inventories, which was not fully offset by the decline in trade receivables. However, as a proportion of annualised business volume, working capital decreased year on year from 7.3% to 6.8% as of 30 June 2026.
Liabilities
Non-current liabilities stood at €1,240.0 million as of 30 June 2026, substantially above the €791.9 million recorded at the beginning of the year. The increase was driven primarily by financial liabilities following the placement of a €450 million Schuldschein loan, which secured longer-term funding for further growth.
Current liabilities, by contrast, decreased by −€137.3 million to €1,593.3 million. The most significant movement was a −€41.3 million decline in current financial liabilities, while trade payables also fell by −€34.7 million from their high level at the beginning of the year.
Despite the dividend payout, equity increased to €2,074.0 million as of 30 June 2026 (31 December 2025: €2,052.3 million). However, the significant increase in the balance sheet total reduced the equity ratio from 44.9% as of 31 December 2025 to 42.3% as of the reporting date.
The annualised return on equity increased from 9.3% to 10.4%.
|
|
|
30/06/2026 |
|
31/12/2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Balance sheet total |
€m |
|
4,907.3 |
|
4,574.7 |
Cash and cash equivalents incl. time deposits and securities |
€m |
|
537.5 |
|
452.0 |
Equity |
€m |
|
2,074.0 |
|
2,052.3 |
Equity ratio |
% |
|
42.3 |
|
44.9 |
Net debt |
€m |
|
338.9 |
|
20.6 |
Debt-to-equity ratio |
% |
|
136.6 |
|
122.9 |
Working capital |
€m |
|
596.0 |
|
500.5 |
Cash flow
At −€101.7 million, operating cash flow was significantly below the €24.2 million recorded in the prior-year period. This reflects the strong business performance during the reporting period, particularly in June. This development was primarily driven by the following factors:
Following only a modest build-up in the previous year, our largely order-backed inventories were increased significantly in response to strong business activity, resulting in a cash outflow of −€227.3 million (previous year: −€27.0 million).
Cash outflow related to other net assets increased significantly from −€53.3 million to −€165.6 million. This was due to the increase in contract assets, representing goods and services delivered but not yet invoiced, which also resulted from the particularly strong business performance in June.
By contrast, reducing trade payables resulted in a cash outflow of just −€21.9 million, well below the previous year’s −€147.3 million.
The reduction in trade receivables generated a cash inflow of €114.7 million, broadly in line with the previous year’s €102.3 million.
In the second quarter, operating cash flow amounted to −€112.5 million, compared with €45.2 million in the same period of the previous year. Positive business momentum towards the end of the quarter resulted in cash outflows across virtually all working capital items.
Investing activities resulted in a cash outflow of −€10.3 million in the first half of 2026, compared with an inflow of €32.0 million in the prior-year period. Payments for investments in intangible assets and property, plant and equipment increased to −€62.9 million from −€57.5 million in the prior-year period. Acquisition-related payments totalled −€27.8 million, compared with no material transactions in the same period of the previous year.
Financing activities generated an inflow of €264.7 million in the reporting period, compared with an outflow of −€174.1 million in the prior-year period. This marked change is attributable to the placement of a €450 million Schuldschein loan in June 2026. In both years, Bechtle paid a dividend of €88.2 million.
Free cash flow was negative at −€186.8 million in the first half of 2026. In the prior-year period, it amounted to −€26.0 million as a result of the significantly higher operating cash flow. In the second quarter, free cash flow stood at −€142.3 million.