Bell Microproducts Announces Preliminary Second Quarter 2009 Sales of $708 Million

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 14, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bell Microproducts Inc.
(Pink Sheets:BELM), one of the world's largest value-added distributors of
storage and computing technologies, today announced preliminary results for its
second fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2009.

Key Q2 2009 preliminary financial highlights:

* Second quarter sales were approximately $708 million, a
decrease of 24% compared to Q2 2008, and, compared to
estimated Q1 2009 sales of approximately $714 million, a
decrease of 1%. The decline in sales from the prior year
was primarily due to the major global economic slowdown and
significant currency exchange rate changes. Excluding the
effect of currency exchange rate changes, Q2 sales decreased
17% compared to Q2 2008.

* Due to significant steps taken in late 2008 and early 2009,
operating expenses have been reduced significantly in the
past two quarters. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2008,
professional fee spending declined approximately 50% and
operating expenses (excluding professional fees) were down
more than 20%.

* The Company successfully reduced accounts receivable by 2%
and inventory by 8% compared to Q1 2009.

* Through tight asset management, the Company was able to
generate significant cash to further reduce its outstanding
debt. Total debt declined 8% from approximately $370 million
at the end of the first quarter to approximately $340 million
at the end of the second quarter.
"We saw signs of a stabilized demand for our products in the second quarter,"
said W. Donald Bell, Bell Microproducts President and Chief Executive Officer.
"While Europe and Latin America experienced sequential sales declines of 3% due
primarily to seasonality, North American distribution sales grew 5%."

At the end of Q2 2009, the Company had approximately $100 million of available
borrowing capacity under its worldwide revolving credit facilities, and,
although 2009 results to date are not final, the Company believes it is fully in
compliance with all of its lender covenants worldwide.

Mr. Bell continued, "We were also very pleased to announce the completion of all
of our past due annual financial statements, and we anticipate filing the Form
10-Q quarterly reports with the SEC for our first two quarters of 2009 later in
the third quarter 2009. We continue to be cautiously optimistic that stronger
seasonal demand and a significant reduction in our operating expenses,
especially professional fees, will contribute to an improved second half of
2009."

Sales for each of the three major geographies consisted of the following:

* North American sales, which comprised approximately 41% of
Q2 2009 total sales, declined 24% year-over-year and
increased 2% compared to Q2 2008. North American operations
consist of the Distribution Division and the Enterprise Group,
and the Enterprise Group consists of the Company's ProSys,
Rorke Data and TotalTec operations. North American
Distribution sales declined 20% compared to Q2 2008 and
increased 5% from Q1 2009. North American Enterprise Group
sales declined 32% compared to Q2 2008 and 3% sequentially
to approximately $100 million in Q2 2009.

* Latin American sales, which comprised approximately 17% of
total Q2 2009 sales, decreased 24% from Q2 2008 and 3%
sequentially from Q1 2009.

* European sales, which comprised approximately 42% of total
Q2 2009 sales, decreased by 25% from Q2 2008 and 3%
sequentially. In local currency, the European sales decline
from the prior year was 9%.
Additional Financial Disclosures

The Company is unable to provide additional quantitative information regarding
its results for the second quarter of 2009 until it has completed the
preparation of its financial statements for that period.

About Bell Microproducts

Bell Microproducts is a leading international, value-added distributor of a wide
range of high-tech products, solutions and services, including storage systems,
servers, software, computer components and peripherals, as well as maintenance
and professional services. An industry-recognized specialist in storage
products, the Company is one of the world's largest storage-centric value-added
distributors.

Bell Microproducts is uniquely qualified with deep technical and application
expertise to service a broad range of information technology needs. From design
to deployment, its products are available at any level of integration, from
components to subsystem assemblies and fully-integrated, tested and certified
system solutions. More information can be found in the company's SEC filings, or
by visiting the Bell Microproducts Web site at www.bellmicro.com.

The Bell Microproducts Inc. logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5738

Safe Harbor Statement

Some of the statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking
statements that are based on the current opinions and estimates of management,
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and
speak only as of the date on which they are made. Investors should not place
undue reliance on these statements and the company undertakes no obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Statements that include the words
"expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "project," "forecast," "estimate," "may,"
"should," "anticipate" and similar statements of a future or forward-looking
nature identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address
matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be
important factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ
materially from those indicated in these statements. Such forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to: management's preliminary estimates
regarding the company's first and second quarter sales and operating results;
the outlook for 2009; management's expectation that operating expense
reductions, especially professional fees, will be significantly reduced in the
second half of 2009 compared to the first half of 2009; management's expectation
that stronger seasonal demand could occur in the second half of 2009; that the
company will complete its first and second quarter of 2009 Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q prior to September 30, 2009; and that in the third quarter of 2009 the
company will return to being current in its quarterly SEC financial reporting.

Actual results could differ materially from such statements as a result of many
risks and uncertainties, including: necessary adjustments that were made to
prior period financial statements, as set forth in the company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, may require modifications to
these preliminary sales and other estimates; expense reductions may not result
in the savings anticipated by management and may take longer to realize than
management currently estimates; management may be unable to take actions to
reduce costs in future quarters to the degree management deems necessary or
appropriate; cost reduction actions taken by management in the past or future
may cause the business to be adversely impacted; foreign currency exchange rate
fluctuations may continue to adversely affect operating results; short-term and
long-term debt may increase over time; cash availability under our revolving
credit facilities varies based on a number of factors and may decrease over
time, and could decrease substantially; lender covenants require quarterly
compliance and the company may not be able to achieve compliance in the future;
global economic conditions in 2009 may worsen; technology spending may continue
to decrease in one or more of the markets in which the company operates;
anticipated stronger seasonal demand may not occur; a decrease in sales may
occur for reasons other than the current economic climate; the fact that the
company is not yet current with the filing requirements of the SEC with respect
to its periodic reports and may not be able to file its quarterly reports for
the first and second quarters by September 30, 2009 and, hence, the company may
not be able to become current in its SEC filings in the second half of this
year; the costs incurred by the company previously, and in 2009, for significant
additional legal, accounting, and other professional services related to the
restatement and delinquent periodic reports was significant, and could continue
to be significant; audit and legal expenses in the second half of 2009 and
thereafter may not decline and may be substantially higher than anticipated; the
circumstances resulting in the restatement of our historical financial
statements and the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial
reporting; loss or adverse effect on our supplier relationships; competition in
the markets in which we operate; our reliance on credit provided by our
manufacturers to finance inventory purchases; our reliance on third parties to
manufacture the products we sell; risks related to our substantial indebtedness;
limitations on our operating and strategic flexibility under the terms of our
credit agreements; and risks associated with doing business abroad, including
foreign currency risks.

For a more detailed discussion of how these and other risks and uncertainties
could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our
forward-looking statements, see our reports filed with the SEC (available at
www.sec.gov), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2008.

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CONTACT: Bell Microproducts Inc.
Amy S. Feng, Investor Relations Representative
(213) 630-6550
asf@abmac.com