Electrocomponents

FY14 Half–Yearly Financial Report Electrocomponents plc, the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, today announces its results for the six months ended 30 September 2013. SUMMARY OF RESULTS H1 2013/14 Sales (2) Headline profit before tax Reported profit before tax (2) Headline earnings per share (2) Headline free cash flow Interim dividend per share £635.4m £44.6m £44.6m 7.2p £36.0m 5.0p H1 2012/13 (3) As restated £606.5m £39.2m £36.7m 6.2p £24.0m 5.0p Change 1.1% 13.8% 21.5% 16.1% 50.0% (1)

(1) Sales growth, unless otherwise stated, is adjusted for trading days and currency movements (“underlying sales growth/decline”). Additional trading days and currency movements increased Group reported sales by around £22m (2) Headline measures of profitability and cash flow are defined as the relevant reported profit/cash flow measure before reorganisation costs/cash flows (3) Restated for the changes in IAS19R Employee Benefits. For further details refer to basis of preparation on pages 22 and 23

Financial Highlights  Group underlying sales growth of 1%, with 3% International growth and 3% UK decline  International driven by 3% growth in both Europe and North America, with Asia Pacific flat  UK sales trends improved through the period  Gross margin stable at 45.4%, operating costs grew by 1% at constant currency  Group return on sales increased by 0.5% points to 7.4%, with contribution increasing in all regions (2)  Headline profit before tax increased by 14%, with 10% points due to extra trading days and currency (2)  Headline free cash flow grew by 50% to £36.0m, with higher profit and improved working capital  Strong balance sheet with net debt:EBITDA of 1.1 times  Interim dividend per share maintained at 5.0 pence Operational Highlights  Group eCommerce sales growth of 6%, share of Group sales increasing by 3% points to 57%  Group customer numbers increased by 5%  Successfully launched DesignSpark Mechanical,...