The balance sheet total of the Bechtle Group as of 30 September 2025 was €4,098.8 million and thus slightly below the figure as of 31 December 2024 (€4,217.3 million).
In terms of assets, non-current assets increased by 6.4 per cent to €1,680.9 million. Goodwill, in particular, increased by €63.8 million as a result of acquisitions. Property, plant and equipment also increased by €36.1 million. The capitalisation ratio increased to 41.0 per cent and was thus higher than the figure of 37.4 per cent as of 31 December 2024.
Current assets fell significantly by €220.3 million, totalling €2,417.8 million as of the reporting date. Inventories rose by €40.4 million or 10.7 per cent, against the backdrop of the strong September, and stood at €417.6 million as of 30 September 2025. Trade receivables, on the other hand, fell by €81.6 million or 7.1 per cent. This positive development is also reflected in the average days sales outstanding (DSO) of our receivables. It continued its downward trend and now stands at 38.2 days. At €508.3 million, cash and cash equivalents including time deposits and securities, remained at a very comfortable level.
Working capital increased to €605.9 million as of 30 September 2025 (31 December 2024: €560.8 million) because of the increase in inventories described above and the significant decrease in trade payables. Compared to the previous year's quarter, however, working capital as a percentage of business volume fell from 12.3 per cent to 10.2 per cent.
On the liabilities side, non-current liabilities remained almost stable and totalled €695.1 million on the reporting date.
Current liabilities decreased by €168.8 million and therefore stood at €1,439.4 million as of 30 September 2025. Trade payables decreased by €93.7 million. Other liabilities also fell, by €18.0 million or 5.2 per cent. This is due to lower liabilities to personnel and lower VAT liabilities.
Equity increased by €49.2 million to €1,964.3 million. Accordingly, our equity ratio developed positively, increasing from 45.4 per cent as of 31 December 2024 to now 47.9 per cent. The annualised return on equity was 10.3 per cent, compared to 13.9 per cent in the same period of the previous year.
Operating cash flow totalled €149.1 million in the period from January to September 2025, compared to an unusually high figure of €289.4 million in the same period of the previous year.
The following factors in particular were decisive for this:
- Following a reduction in the previous year, inventories increased because of the improved business performance, which led to a cash outflow of €32.0 million (previous year: inflow of €36.5 million).
- Although we were able to significantly reduce trade receivables, which led to a cash inflow of €109.6 million, this was below the previous year (€172.7 million) – this also reflects the positive demand trend in September.
- At €115.0 million, the cash outflow from the reduction in trade payables was around €50 million higher than in the previous year (€64.3 million).
At -€149.7 million, cash flow from investing activities showed a significantly higher cash outflow than in the previous year (-€51.2 million). One of the reasons for this was payments for acquisitions. At €83.1 million, they were significantly higher than in the previous year (€41.3 million). In addition, cash paid for investments in intangible assets and property, plant and equipment increased from €62.0 million to €91.1 million in the reporting period. This is due, in particular, to higher investments in our own IT as well as new construction projects at several locations.
Cash flow from financing activities totalled -€200.2 million, compared to -€154.5 million in the same period of the previous year. Dividends totalling €88.2 million were distributed in both years, with cash payments of €50.7 million for the repayment of financial liabilities in the reporting period having an additional impact here.
Free cash flow from January to September 2025 was slightly negative at -€16.7 million. This was due, in particular, to the lower operating cash flow compared to the strong previous year as well as noticeably higher investments and payments for acquisitions.