Sixt Group closed out a good first half year 2013 with business performance in line with company expectations. The international mobility service provider’s two business units, Vehicle Rental and Leasing, recorded revenue growth. Consolidated operating revenue for the first half year climbed 2.7% to EUR 704.3 million. Group earnings were on a high level, though slightly below the previous year, as had been forecast, because of a weak economic environment in Europe and the start-up costs for strategic growth initiatives. The Managing Board confirms its previous projections for the full year 2013.
Erich Sixt, chairman of the Managing Board of Sixt SE: "After the first half of the year Sixt is fully on track. We have managed to more than compensate for a drop in domestic demand through numerous measures for expansion abroad. As far as profitability is concerned, Sixt remains industry leader with a pre-tax return on revenue of more than 8%. We are staying the course for the second half of the year and will utilize growth opportunities with all due caution. Despite the recession in Europe, we expect once again to see a satisfactory result for this year."
Group performance in the first half of 2013:
- Rental revenue rose 2.9% year-on-year to €465.9 million (H1 2012: €452.7 million). This growth was driven by a 16.6% increase in foreign revenue. In Germany, rental revenue dropped by 4.2% due to the general economic downturn.
- Due to a higher portfolio of lease contracts, leasing revenue rose 3.6% to €195.0 million (H1 2012: €188.3 million).
- Consolidated operating revenue (excluding revenue from the sale of used leasing vehicles) reached €704.3 million, equivalent to 2.7% more than the previous year’s figure of €686.0 million. The international share of operating revenue climbed true to strategy from 28.7% recorded during the first half of last year to 32.0% this year.
- Total consolidated revenue came to E€781.8 million, some 0.6% more than the figure recorded over the same period last year (€777.1 million).
- Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT), the Sixt Group’s key earnings indicator, came to €57.8 million, some 8.8% less than the year before (€63.4 million). Earnings were affected by a weak European market and the ongoing start-up costs for strategic growth initiatives (e.g. building up US operations, Premium Carsharing DriveNow). Both business units, Vehicle Rental and Leasing, contributed with positive earnings to the healthy half-year result.
- Return on revenue – expressed in relation to EBT – remained on a high level at 8.2% (H1 2012: 9.2%).
- After taxes Sixt recorded a profit of €40.5 million for the first half of 2013 (H1 2012: €43.8 million; -7.6%).
