Distributor ALSO Group closed the first half of 2016 with a consolidated profit of €27.8m and improved its profit by around 14% compared to last year.
Profit before tax (EBT) climbed by about 12% to €40.3m. Sales increased over the same period by almost three percent to €3.771bn.
"We were able to increase earnings and significantly outpace sales. And this despite continued high investments in our future. Both in Poland and in Benelux, we are expanding our presence. We are still expanding, "said Gustavo Möller-Hergt, CEO of ALSO Holding AG.
The Central European market segment recorded a slight declining sales of 2% to €2.304bn but with a 'significantly improved' EBT margin of 0.9%.
This is partly due to measures to stabilise earnings at ALSO Switzerland and ALSO France.
Business development in Germany was above average in the first half, it says.
The previous year's figures for the segments have been adjusted because ALSO International B.V. and ALSO Nederland B.V. (Benelux) are new to the Northern/Eastern Europe region and no longer belong to the Central Europe segment.
In Northern/Eastern Europe, sales increased by 11% to €1.467bn, while the EBT margin declined to 0.4% from 1.2%. This is mainly due to start-up investments in Poland and Benelux.
In addition, cost-reducing investments were carried out in a warehouse in Finland.
International expansion remains a central component of the growth strategy of ALSO. In the past six months, ALSO opened up in Slovenia and Belgium.
The subsidiary ALSO Polska founded twelve months ago is also in a build-up phase while a new warehouse was opened In Pirkkala/Finland.
The business expansion was also supported by new strategic partnerships and collaborations, it says.
Microsoft is working with ALSO on expansion of 'Workplace as a Service' while working with Logicom offers ALSO customers in southern Europe and the Middle East a cloud-based software service.