DGAP-News: Sixt Leasing after first half year 2016 fully in line with plan

Sixt Leasing after first half year 2016 fully in line with plan

• Consolidated revenue up by 7.4% to EUR 353.4 million
• Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) grow above average by 18.2% to EUR 16.2 million, and even by 26.9% in Q2
• Operating return on revenue improves by 20.3% to 7.7%
• Contract portfolio grows 1.8% to 105,200 contracts compared to year end 2015
• Online Retail business field continues its dynamic development
• Significant progress made in reorganising the Group financing
• Managing Board confirms economic targets for full year 2016

Pullach, 17 August 2016 - In the first half of 2016, Sixt Leasing SE, one of the largest non-bank, vendor-neutral full-service leasing companies in Germany, performed fully in line with internal expectations and managed to raise profitability still further. Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT), the key performance indicator for measuring business success, climbed by 18.2% to EUR 16.2 million against the same period last year and thereby improved substantially faster than consolidated revenue. Operating return on revenue grew to 7.7%. At the end of June 2016 the contract portfolio held 105,200 contracts, exceeding the level at the end of 2015 by 1.8%. Consequently, the Managing Board affirms its economic targets for full-year 2016.

Rudolf Rizzolli, CEO of Sixt Leasing SE: "Sixt Leasing followed up on its encouraging start to the year and recorded a good first six months. This development was not least supported by the continued dynamic performance in the Online Retail business field. Through another TV campaign, starting in the third quarter, we want to sustainably increase the brand awareness of 'Sixt Neuwagen'. Moreover, by acquiring autohaus24 GmbH, we secured an additional platform to extend our competitive lead in private and commercial customer leasing and turn additional customer contacts into actual contracts. For the Sixt Leasing Group the top priority for the second half of the year will be to continue on the track of qualitative growth, so that we can continue to improve profitability."

Key figures for H1 2016

• Consolidated revenue rose by 7.4% to EUR 353.4 million (H1 2015: EUR 329.1 million) mainly due to higher proceeds from the sale of used leasing vehicles.
• Operating revenue (without proceeds from sales of used leasing vehicles) dropped slightly by 2.3% to EUR 210.9 million (H1 2015: EUR 215.9 million). The decrease is mainly attributable to lower income from fuel services due to price declines. Adjusted by this effect, operating revenue rose by 1.7%.
• Proceeds from sales of used leasing vehicles (sales revenue) climbed substantially by 25.9% to EUR 142.5 million after EUR 113.2 million for the same period last year. This gain mainly reflects the higher number of vehicles being returned after the strong expansion of the contract portfolio over the last few years in the Leasing business unit. In addition, the increasing number of vehicles which are being marketed for Fleet Management customers did also impact this development.
• The Group generated consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) of EUR 16.2 million, an increase of 18.2% compared to the same number last year (H1 2015: EUR 13.7 million).
• The operating return on revenue (EBT/operating revenue) improved by 20.3% to 7.7% (H1 2015: 6.4%).

Key figures for Q2 2016

• During Q2 2016 consolidated revenue climbed 9.4% to EUR 179.1 million (Q2 2015: EUR 163.8 million).
• Operating revenue (without sales revenue) dropped slightly by 2.1% to EUR 107.5 million (Q2 2015: EUR 109.9 million).
• For Q2 2016 Sixt Leasing generated EBT of EUR 8.2 million, which was 26.9% higher than in the same quarter last year (Q2 2015: EUR 6.4 million).

Further growth of contract portfolio
As at reporting date, 30 June 2016, the Group's total number of contracts inside and outside Germany (excluding franchisees and cooperation partners) increased to 105,200 contracts, 1.8% more than the number recorded on 31 December 2015 (103,200 contracts).

The number of contracts under management in the Fleet Leasing business field declined slightly by 3.0% to 46,900 (31 December 2015: 48,300 contracts), mainly due to orders being reallocated from the first to the second half of 2016. The Managing Board therefore still expects that at the end of 2016 the Fleet Leasing's contract portfolio will reach a level slightly higher than at the end of last year.

In the first half of 2016, the number of contracts in the Online Retail business field climbed higher than expected. Thus, as of 30 June 2016, 24,400 Online Retail contracts were counted in Sixt Leasing's portfolio, a gain of 15.5% compared to the end of 2015 (21,100 contracts).

In the Fleet Management business unit the number of contracts went slightly up by 0.2% to 33,900 contracts, compared to 33,800 contracts at the end of 2015.

Reorganising of the Group's financing makes significant progress
As at 30 June 2016, Sixt Leasing Group's equity totalled EUR 182.1 million, EUR 3.8 million higher than at 31 December 2015 (EUR 178.3 million). By the decision of the Annual General Meeting on 1 June 2016, a total dividend of EUR 8.2 million was distributed to the shareholders of Sixt Leasing SE.

At 15.4% the equity ratio remained above the targeted long-term minimum of 14.0%.

The conversion of the Group's financing announced during the IPO in May 2015 continues to remain fully on schedule. In May 2016 the Company successfully placed its first borrower's note loan at a volume of EUR 30 million with institutional investors. At the end of June 2016 Sixt Leasing successfully launched the asset back securities (ABS) programme, it had previously announced. After integrating a second bank into the programme in July, the target volume of EUR 500 million was reached. This means that another essential financial component has been successfully established.

At the end of the first half of 2016, and therefore at the earliest possible time, another repayment of EUR 209 million was made on the core loan facility provided by Sixt SE.

As the conditions of the new external financing instruments are significantly more favourable than the 3% interest charged on the core loan facility, it is expected to generate significant savings in interest expenses for the second half of the year. The next repayment possibilities at the end of June 2017 and 2018 are set to amplify this effect still further.

Performance of the business units
The Sixt Leasing Group divides its operative business into the two business units (segments) Leasing (with the business fields Fleet Leasing and Online Retail) and Fleet Management (with the subsidiary Sixt Mobility Consulting GmbH).

Leasing business unit:
The Leasing business unit expanded its total revenue (including sales revenue) by 6.6% to EUR 312.9 million in the first half of 2016. The operating revenue from leasing transactions (finance leasing and services) decreased slightly by 2.0% to EUR 194.9 million, above all as attributable to lower income from fuel services due to price declines. Adjusted by this effect, operating revenue increased by 1.9 %. The segment's result (EBT) for the first six months of the year improved by 18.7% from EUR 12.3 million to EUR 14.7 million.

In April 2016 Sixt Leasing acquired 100% interest in the vehicle broker platform autohaus24 GmbH. The acquisition provides the Group's Online Retail business field another access route to the dynamically expanding online car market. autohaus24.de functions as a second platform next to sixt-neuwagen.de that allows customers to obtain leasing and Vario-financing offers. Before the acquisition the company was run as joint venture held in equal shares by Sixt Ventures GmbH and the Axel Springer Auto Verlag GmbH.

Fleet Management business unit:
Over the first six months, the Fleet Management business unit generated 14.3% higher revenue, totalling EUR 40.5 million. Declining revenue for fleet management was offset by substantially higher sales of used leasing vehicles for customers. Earnings before taxes (EBT) improved by 13.5% from EUR 1.4 million to EUR 1.6 million.

Outlook for the year 2016
Looking ahead to the full fiscal year 2016, the Managing Board of Sixt Leasing SE projects further growth in the contract portfolio. The expectation for the Online Retail business field is to keep up the dynamic development so that its contracts portfolio is set to climb to 32,000 contracts by the end of 2017. In the Fleet Leasing business field, it is target to achieve a slight growth in the contract portfolio during 2016. The Fleet Management business unit is expected to take another step towards the mid-term target of 50,000 contracts during the current year. The management focuses on expanding the presence in Europe by taking under management parts of customers' international fleets.

For the full fiscal year 2016 the Managing Board continues to expect consolidated operating revenue to grow by a lower to mid-range single-digit percentage figure compared to last year, accompanied by an improvement of consolidated EBT. The Group's equity ratio is expected to remain above the targeted minimum of 14%.

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The Interim Report on H1 2016 by Sixt Leasing SE is available for download from the company's website at http://ir.sixt-leasing.com/interim-reports.

Contact:
Sixt Leasing SE
Corporate Communications
Frank Elsner / Frank Paschen
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 / 99 24 96 - 30
Fax: +49 (0) 89 / 99 24 96 - 32
E-Mail: [email protected]

The Sixt Leasing Group at a Glance
(Figures in accordance with IFRS)¹
 

Revenue performance

Earnings performance

Balance sheet figures

¹ Due to rounding selected figures in this press release may not add up to the amount recorded. For the same reason, some percentage figures listed may also not exactly reflect the absolute numbers to which they refer.
² Ratio of EBT to operating revenue
³ Ratio of Group surplus attributable to the Group shareholders to weighted number of shares for the period.
⁴ Liabilities to Sixt SE
⁵ Mainly liabilities to Sixt SE
⁶ Current and non-current financial liabilities, including finance leases
⁷ Value of vehicles added to the leasing fleets