Features
10 Aug 22

Record results for Sixt, VWFS and LeasePlan

It’s that time of year again. Hot on the heels of ALD, which announced excellent half-year results a few days ago, corporate mobility providers Sixt, VWFS and LeasePlan also release their figures for Q2 and H1 2022. The short version? Record results all round. For the longer version, see below. 

Sixt: “Internationalisation pays off”

Sixt reported record revenues and earnings in the first half of 2022, with profitable and strong revenue growth in all international markets. Some key figures for the period:

  • Consolidated revenue was up to a record €1.32 billion, up 59.4% year-on-year, and 16.9% above the half-year figure from 2019, the last year before corona.
  • Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) rose to a record €223 million, up 250% year-on-year, thanks to strong revenue growth and strict cost management. 
  • Despite a global production shortage, Sixt’s rental fleet expanded by 24%, compared to H1 2021, to an average of 129,400 vehicles. 
  • Based on these results, Sixt’s management board expects whole-year EBT at the upper end of the range of €380 top €480 million. 

Sixt’s “very gratifying first half” – as per the press release – is the result of revenue growing strongly, not just in Europe (+82%) but also the U.S. (+66%), with an additional boost in North America from the launch of Sixt Canada (starting with a station in Vancouver in July). 

In fact, the foreign (i.e. non-German) share of consolidated revenue continued to increase from 64% in H1 2021 to more than 70% in the first six months of this year. To be precise: 29.6% of consolidated revenue was generated in Germany, 40.6% in the rest of Europe, and 29.8% in the U.S., where Sixt is now present at 36 of the 50 most important airports. 

Cost discipline was another factor driving the excellent EBT result, with operating expenses rising considerably less (+47%) than revenue (+59%). 

“Our internationalization strategy continues to pay off, and the business performance is strong evidence of the robustness of our company”, said Alexander Sixt, co-CEO of the company, in a comment on the results. 

VWFS: “Importance of financial services”

Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) achieved its best-ever half-year result. “(This) demonstrates the great importance of automotive financial services in the Volkswagen Group”, commented VWFS CEO Dr. Christian Dahlheim. Key results:

  • Operating profit was up to a record €2.98 billion, up Operating 27.5% year-on-year. 
  • The volume of current contracts was down slightly, by -1.2% to 22 million units.
  • Based on these results, VWFS raised its earnings forecast for the full year to €4 billion, higher than originally targeted, but still lower than last year’s result. 

Key factors driving the record result for VWFS were the continued high revenues from the marketing of used cars, and the low risk costs for credit and residual value risks. However, Dr. Dahlheim cited “special items” that had a negative impact on business.

Such as the limited availability of new vehicles, due to which the number of new contracts worldwide declined by around 3.8 milion (-8.8%). As a result, the number of current contracts, well, contracted, by 1.2% to 22 million.

That last figure was especially pronounced in Germany, the largest market for VWFS: the company’s German contract portfolio declined by 2.9% in the first half of 2022, to 6.1 million units. 

New service and insurance contracts worldwide were up 4.4% to 2.2 million, leading to a total of current service and insurance contracts of 11.5 million (+4.3%). Total VWFS assets amounted to €237.7 billion (+2%). 

LeasePlan: “Integration planning underway”

LeasePlan’s released results for the second quarter rather than the first half of the year, but here too, records were broken. Some key results for Q2:

  • LeasePlan achieved a net result of €324 million, up 85.7% over the same period last year. 
  • The company’s serviced fleet grew by 7.5% to a total of 1.9 million vehicles. The Q2 orderbook reached a record high. 
  • Gross profit in leasing and additional services was €426 million (+25.6%), with strong performance across all services. 
  • Gross profit in PLDV and end of contract fees was €188 million (+112.9%), driven by continued strong demand for used vehicles. 

LeasePlan’s CEO Tex Gunning pointed out that the global drive to cut emissions continues to support the growth of LeasePlan, which is an early and strong convert to the electric cause. Last quarter, 26% of its deliveries were EVs. 

The quarter was also marked by the acquisition of LeasePlan USA by the parent company of Wheels Donlen. That move is part of the complicated realignment in the leasing industry resulting from the acquisition of LeasePlan by ALD, announced earlier this year (for €4.9 billion).  

By the way: these are some of the company’s last results as an independent entity. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2022.

"Looking ahead, we are excited by the opportunities the proposed combination with ALD will bring for LeasePlan and the mobility sector. Integration planning is now underway, to lead the shift to sustainable, subscription-based mobility services”, Mr Gunning concluded.

Image: Shutterstock

Authored by: Frank Jacobs