• Earnings performance remains high
• CEO Erich Sixt: “Nine-month results more than respectable”
• Rental revenue rises 7.6 per cent – International business drives growth
• Consolidated revenue up 2.3 per cent
• Higher revenue and high earnings expected again for full-year 2012

Pullach, 19 November 2012 – Despite the slackening economy in Europe, Sixt AG, Germany’s largest vehicle rental firm and one of the leading European providers of mobility services, again saw strong demand in the third quarter of 2012. Consequently business performance for the first nine months of the year was entirely within the company’s expectations.

With a profit before taxes (EBT) of EUR 104.0 million, earnings for January through September 2012 were only slightly below the prior year’s record level, despite higher operating expenses and start-up costs for new Group activities. The dynamically growing international business made a substantial contribution toward the success of the business. For 2012 as a whole, Sixt still expects that consolidated revenue will grow, and that the company will show a solid profit.

Erich Sixt, Chairman of the Managing Board of Sixt AG: “Even amid a difficult economic environment, Sixt continues to grow, and has consolidated its standing as one of the world’s most profitable vehicle rental companies. Business performance for the first nine months of 2012 demonstrates the internal strength our Group has achieved. We continue to be extremely pleased with our international business, which in some cases has been showing substantial double-digit growth rates. All in all, the results we can show after nine months are more than respectable.”

Group performance in the first nine months of 2012

• Amid generally strong demand, rental revenue increased by 7.6%, to EUR 725.7 million
  (Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 674.3 million). A principal contributor here was the continuing dynamic growth in the Group’s international business in Western Europe and the USA. Every Sixt corporate country showed gains in revenue – in some cases, substantial ones.
• Leasing revenue, at EUR 282.6 million, decreased 4.6% (Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 296.1 million). This change was a result of the Group’s focus on fleet management and full-service contracts, but is increasingly also the consequence of a more aggressive competitive environment.
• The Group’s total revenue rose 2.3%, from EUR 1,178.1 million to EUR 1,204.9 million.
• Consolidated earnings before net finance costs and taxes (EBIT) came to EUR 142.5 million, 8.0% below the prior-year figure of EUR 154.9 million. If the figure is adjusted for non-recurring income of EUR 4.4 million received in the Leasing Business Unit during the same period last year, the decrease from the prior-year figure was only 5.3%.
• The consolidated profit before taxes (EBT), the Group’s key earnings indicator, came to EUR 104.0 million, compared to EUR 115.7 million for the same period last year (–10.1%). After adjustment for the non-recurring effect from 2011, EBT was down 6.6% from the prior-year figure. This amount reflects higher operating expenses and the start-up costs for growth initiatives, such as the vehicle rental business in the USA and the DriveNow premium carsharing programme.
• After taxes, Sixt showed a profit of EUR 72.3 million for the first nine months of 2012
  (Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 80.4 million, –10.1%).

Group performance in Q3 2012

• Rental revenue was EUR 273.0 million (Q3 2011: EUR 255.0 million; +7.1%).
• Leasing revenue came to EUR 94.3 million, compared to EUR 99.1 million for Q3 2011 (–4.8%).
• Total consolidated revenue for the third quarter increased 1.3%, to EUR 427.8 million
  (Q3 2011: EUR 422.3 million).
• The Group is reporting an EBT of EUR 40.6 million (Q3 2011: EUR 44.2 million; –8.2%).

Conservative fleet policy

In the first nine months of 2012, Sixt added a total of EUR 118,500 vehicles, worth EUR 2.86 billion, to its rental and leasing fleet inside Germany and internationally, compared to 116,600 vehicles worth EUR 2.78 billion for the same period last year. This represents an increase of 1.6% in the total number of vehicles and 2.8% in vehicle value. In the third quarter, in view of less auspicious economic conditions in Europe, Sixt pursued a deliberately conservative policy in calling up contingents of vehicles.

Equity at a high

At the end of September 2012, the Sixt Group’s equity amounted to EUR 626.8 million. Thus equity had increased by 5.2% from the figure as at 31 December 2011 (EUR 596.1 million). The equity ratio came to 25.2%
(31 December 2011: 25.6%) – still an international high for the rental and leasing industry.

Outlook for full-year 2012

Despite the on-going risks posed by the economy, as well as the business environment that has already become less optimistic in Germany, management continues to expect an increase in consolidated revenue, which will be supported by growth in rental revenue. Sixt still expects to achieve a high EBT for full-year 2012, although the figure is likely to be below the record level of 2011.

Developments in the operating business units

Vehicle Rental:
Sixt subsidiaries cover more than 70% of the European rental market, and the Company also has had its own rental offices in the USA since 2011. In other European countries and other regions of the world, the Company is represented by a close-knit network of franchisees.

The Vehicle Rental Business Unit generated rental revenue of EUR 725.7 million in the first nine months of 2012 (+7.6%). International business continued to grow vigorously, with rental revenue gaining 20.1%. Activities launched in the USA in 2011 have also already begun making a noteworthy contribution to revenue. For the first nine months of 2012, the Vehicle Rental business unit showed total revenue growth of 7.4%, to EUR 791.7 million
(Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 737.4 million).

The Business Unit’s EBT for the first nine months was EUR 93.8 million, down 5.4% from the equivalent figure from last year (Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 99.2 million). In view of the higher operating expenses, which were expected, together with start-up costs to establish the USA business and DriveNow, the earnings result is highly satisfactory.

Leasing:
Sixt is one of the largest German vendor-neutral, non-bank full-service leasing companies, offering corporate and private customers a broad range of supplemental services for managing fleets and individual vehicles, in addition to pure finance leasing, as a way of reducing their mobility costs.

The business unit’s total number of leases in and outside Germany (excluding franchisees) was 61,450 at
30 September 2012, about 9% above the figure from the end of 2011 (56,300) and about 2% above the figure at the end of the first half of 2012.

Leasing revenue for the first nine months was EUR 282.6 million, down 4.6% from last year’s equivalent of
EUR 296.1 million. The decrease was caused in part by the business unit’s concentration on the fleet management product, but another contributing factor was increasingly intense competition in the leasing market. The business unit’s total revenue (including revenue from the sale of used leasing vehicles) decreased 6.2% to EUR 408.1 million
(Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 434.9 million).

The business unit’s EBT for January through September of this year was EUR 12.8 million (reported for the same period last year: EUR 22.1 million; after adjustment for non-recurring revenue: EUR 17.7 million).

Further information:
Frank Elsner
Sixt Central Press Office
T +49 – 89 – 992 496 – 30/ – 31
F +49 – 89 – 992 496 – 32
E-Mail: pressrelations(at)sixt.com

Sixt Aktiengesellschaft’s Report on the First Nine Months of 2012 can now be downloaded at http://ag.sixt.de/en/.