NECKARSULM (dpa-AFX) - IT service provider Bechtle continued to grow strongly last year, also thanks to a strong final quarter. In addition, according to preliminary figures released on Tuesday, the MDax group is also making progress in reducing its high inventory levels, which is easing the financial situation because more money is coming in for completed orders. CEO Thomas Olemotz spoke of a major success in the face of "extremely difficult conditions," even if the operating margin declined slightly. The share price rose slightly in the morning in a somewhat weaker market.

Sales climbed more than 13 percent to more than 6 billion euros in 2022, the Neckarsulm-based group said. The fourth quarter was the most successful in the company's history, it said. Pre-tax profit for the year as a whole rose by more than 9 percent to around 350 million euros. The corresponding margin, however, fell from 6.0 percent to 5.8 percent.

The Bechtle share price rose by 0.1 percent to 40.73 euros. This represents an increase of more than one fifth in the current year. Analyst Martin Comtesse from Jefferies assessed the revenue results positively, saying that they were higher than generally expected. However, Bechtle's operating profit lagged behind market estimates. Knut Woller of Baader Bank took a similar view. For the new year, the market's consensus expectations could prove to be too optimistic, but this could possibly be offset by somewhat stronger demand.

Woller took a clearly positive view of Bechtle's turnaround in cash flow from operating activities. In the fourth quarter, Bechtle was able to gradually reduce its high inventory levels. This had accumulated in the previous quarters because some larger projects could not be completed due to delivery problems with important parts.

The company has now achieved a turnaround in operating cash flow, which is expected to be positive for the year as a whole. High inventory levels had tied up a lot of money and weighed on cash flow for a long time last year, with an outflow of almost 231 million euros after nine months.

Despite working off orders and reducing inventories, the order book remained well filled towards the end of the year. The order backlog at the end of the year was around 1.6 billion euros, the same level as at the end of September. The company will present detailed annual figures on March 17./men/mne/jha/