Features
7 Mar 22

Arval profit at €720m in “record” 2021

Arval turned a profit of €720.5 million in 2021, an increase of 52.8% over 2020. Two record figures, both the result of a surge in the second-hand market. The leasing company made just under €370 million by remarketing its used vehicles – another record.  

The BNP Paribas subsidiary’s full-year results follow the release of its preliminary activity results in earlier this year (see Fleet Europe article on 9 February) . The fuller picture on Arval’s activities in 2021 paints a picture of a year of records – as it has been for other large lessors as well, including LeasePlan and ALD.

Some key figures from Arval’s annual report:

  • Net profit increased from €471.4 million in 2020 to €720.5 million in 2021, up 52.8%.
  • Supply issues for new vehicles drove up prices for second-hand ones in 2021, helping Arval increase its net profit from remarketing from €158.7 million in 2020 to €369.7 million in 2021.
  • That’s an increase of 133%, versus an increase in volume of vehicles sold of just 12.6%, to 298.853 units – indicating the steep price increase per unit.  
  • But there’s more to Arval’s stellar results than its remarketing windfall. Even exluding used-vehicles sales, gross operating profit rose 12.5%. The profit from Arval’s lease contract margin rose by 15% to 720.5 million, while the lease service margin was €646 million, up 9.8%.
  • Overall, the cost/income ratio improved from 53.5% in 2020 to 46.5% in 2021, and the cost of risk decreased from €60.2 million to €34.2 million.
  • With around 400,000 of its vehicles connected, Arval is one of three leaders in Europe when it comes to vehicle connectivity.
  • As for electrification: by year’s end, Arval’s leased fleet included just under 205,000 EVs, up 80% over a year before. For 2025, the company has revised its EV target upwards to 700,000 EVs, or about 35% of its total leased fleet. 

While careful not to make predictions for 2022, Arval in its statement dit point to a few important developments with growth potential for the present calendar year, including its new car-sharing platform with Ridecell, and parent company BNP Paribas’ partnership with JLR. 

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Image: Arval

Authored by: Frank Jacobs