DGAP-News: Sixt Leasing SE increases revenue to just under EUR 400 million in the first half of 2018

Sixt Leasing SE increases revenue to just under EUR 400 million in the first half of 2018

• Portfolio slightly increased to a total of 133,800 contracts due to growth in the Fleet Management and Online Retail business fields
• Group revenue rose by around 7 per cent year on year to EUR 394 million, with EBT coming in as expected at almost EUR 16 million
• Share of diesel vehicles without buyback agreement decreases again
• Managing Board confirms targets for full-year 2018

Pullach, 14 August 2018 - Sixt Leasing SE, market leader in the online sales of new vehicles and specialist in the management and full-service leasing of large fleets, recorded further growth in revenue and contracts in the first half of 2018. Considering the solid business development so far this year, the Managing Board confirms its forecast for the 2018 financial year.

The contract portfolio in the Online Retail business field increased by 3.6 per cent to 47,000 contracts in the period from the end of December to the end of June. The Fleet Management business unit also recorded a growth of 4.6 per cent to 41,200 contracts. As expected, the contract portfolio in the Fleet Leasing business field saw a slight reduction of 5.2 per cent to 45,600 contracts, mainly following the active risk management to reduce residual value risks from diesel-powered vehicles without buyback agreement. Overall, the Group's contract portfolio in Germany and abroad (excluding franchise and cooperation partners) rose slightly by 0.7 per cent to 133,800 contracts.

Thomas Spiegelhalter, CEO of Sixt Leasing SE: "Overall, the first half of the year was in line with our expectations. However, the sluggish transition to the new calculation logic for determining CO₂ emissions ​​does not leave us unaffected. New business in the second quarter, in particular in the Online Retail business field, suffered from the fact that around one quarter of the most popular models at sixt-neuwagen.de could not be ordered. The situation is currently concerning the entire industry, but should probably calm down by the end of the year. We are planning initiatives in the further course of the year to stimulate new business in Online Retail. Accordingly, we stick to our targets for the 2018 financial year. In addition, at the end of the year Dr Felix Frank from AutoScout24 will join Sixt Leasing SE as Chief Digital Officer and give the business additional momentum."

Consolidated revenue climbed year on year by 6.9 per cent to EUR 394.3 million. The Group's operating revenue (excluding sales revenues) increased by 5.6 per cent to EUR 236.1 million. Sales revenues from leasing returns and remarketed customer vehicles saw an increase of 9.0 per cent to EUR 158.2 million. This was in particular due to the successful remarketing of the significantly higher number of vehicle returns in the Online Retail business field.

Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 3.4 per cent to EUR 121.0 million in the first half of the year. The financial result improved significantly compared to the first half of last year by EUR 2.4 million to EUR -7.1 million. The main reason for this was the decrease in interest expenses as a result of the repayment of a EUR 300 million portion of the Core Loan to Sixt SE in June 2017. At the end of June 2018, Sixt Leasing SE repaid the last EUR 190 million instalment of the Sixt SE loan, especially from the proceeds of the bond issuance in May. As a result, the company expects further savings in interest costs over the next twelve months.

As expected, consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) declined by 5.6 per cent to EUR 15.8 million, in particular due to investments in IT and digitisation as well as costs for the ramp-up in staff necessary in the context of the growth plans. As a result, the operating return on revenue fell by 0.8 percentage points to 6.7 per cent, but at the same time remained significantly above the target figure of 6.0 per cent. Consolidated net profit declined by 7.7 per cent to EUR 11.5 million.

Active risk management
The share of new contracts for diesel vehicles without buyback agreements in Germany fell by a further 6 percentage points to only around 11 per cent in the second quarter. Including foreign countries, this share was 19 per cent. As expected, the German stock of diesel vehicles with the Euro 5 standard or lower without buyback agreement also continued to decline to around 4,000 vehicles in the second quarter. In the meantime, almost all vehicles with the Euro 4 standard have been sold successfully. Overall, Sixt Leasing was able to further reduce the potential residual value risk from diesel vehicles.

The equity ratio at the end of June 2018 was at 14.3 per cent, 0.1 percentage points above the ratio at the end of 2017 despite the dividend pay-out of EUR 9.9 million in June. Gross cash flow improved by 9.5 per cent to EUR 114.1 million compared to the first half of 2017. At EUR 280.9 million, investments in leased assets remained roughly at the level of the prior-year period (H1 2017: EUR 281.3 million).

The Managing Board continues to expect a slight increase of the Group's contract portfolio, consolidated operating revenue and EBITDA for the fiscal year 2018. The Board also maintains its expectation that EBT will remain at roughly the same level as the previous year. Operating return on revenue is also expected to be in line with the 6 per cent target.
 

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The full half-year report can be downloaded at http://ir.sixt-leasing.com/interim-reports.

About Sixt Leasing:
Sixt Leasing SE (WKN: A0DPRE / ISIN: DE000A0DPRE6) based in Pullach near Munich is market leader in online sales of new vehicles as well as specialist in management and full-service leasing of large fleets. With tailor-made solutions, the company enables the longer-term mobility of its private and corporate customers.

Private and commercial customers use the online platforms sixt-neuwagen.de and autohaus24.de to lease new vehicles affordably. Corporate customers benefit from the cost-saving leasing of their vehicle fleet and from efficient fleet management.

Sixt Leasing SE has been listed in the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) since 7 May 2015. In fiscal year 2017, the Group generated consolidated revenue of EUR 744 million.

www.sixt-leasing.com

Contact:
Sixt Leasing SE
Investor Relations
Stefan Kraus
+49 89 74444 4518
ir@sixt-leasing.com

The Sixt Leasing Group in Q1 2018 at a glance¹

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¹ Figures according to IFRS; rounding differences possible
² Ratio EBT to operating revenue (=consolidated revenue without sales revenue)