Corporate News 17 Nov 2016

Sixt SE: Sixt Group remains on growth track after first three quarters

Sixt Group remains on growth track after first three quarters

  • Earnings before taxes (EBT) after nine months climbed 11.9% to EUR 172.0 million so that the Group achieved a record result of EUR 90.1 million in Q3 2016
  • Consolidated operating revenue up by 10.3% after first three quarters
  • Strong growth in Europe and the USA: rental revenues generated abroad gain almost 25% during first nine months
  • Expectations for full fiscal year 2016 upgraded

Pullach, 17 November 2016 – Sixt Group continued its growth trajectory during the third quarter of 2016 and is on its way to another record year. The substantial improvement is mainly due to strong gains in foreign demand in the Vehicle Rental business combined with a strong utilization rate of the rental fleet and low refinancing costs. At EUR 90.1 million the worldwide mobility service provider achieved its highest quarterly pre-tax profit (EBT) in its corporate history. During the first nine months of 2016, Group EBT climbed 11.9% to EUR 172.0 million. In view of the extremely positive business performance Sixt upgraded its projections for the full fiscal year 2016, as was announced on 21 October 2016.

Erich Sixt, CEO of Sixt SE: “Business performance in the third quarter significantly exceeded our expectations, especially outside Germany. Foreign operations continue to be our key growth driver. Moreover, the figures of the first nine months clearly show that despite its investments in expansionary measures and new mobility concepts, Sixt is still able to maintain its high profitability level with a return on operating revenue above 10%.”
Group performance after Q3 2016

  • The Group’s total revenue climbed 11.8 % to EUR 1.83 billion (9M 2015:
    EUR 1.63 billion).
  • Consolidated operating revenue (excluding revenue from the sale of used leasing vehicles) rose 10.3% to EUR 1.61 billion compared to the EUR 1.46 billion achieved during the same period last year.
  • Rental revenue improved 13.4% in the period from January to September to EUR 1.17 billion (9M 2015: EUR 1.04 billion). The reason for this uptake was a strong demand from customers outside Germany, where rental revenue gained almost one quarter. The foreign share in total rental revenue increased still further and came to 54% (9M 2015: 49%).
  • The operating leasing revenue (without proceeds from vehicle sales) came to EUR 311.3 million, some 1.8% less than in the same period last year (EUR 316.9 million). The reduction is due to the lower fuel income following lower petrol prices. Adjusted for this effect, leasing revenue climbed 1.7%.
  • The Group’s earnings before taxes (EBT), which is the key parameter for measuring the business success, climbed 11.9% to EUR 172.0 million (9M 2015: EUR 153.8 million) despite ongoing high expenses for various expansion measures.

Group developments in Q3 2016

  • Consolidated revenue for Q3 2016 climbed 7.4% to EUR 677.9 million (Q3 2015: EUR 631.5 million).
  • Consolidated operating revenue reached EUR 602.9 million (Q3 2015: EUR 569.4 million; +5.9%).
  • Rental revenue increased 8.1%, to EUR 456.0 million (Q3 2015: EUR 421.6 million).
  • Operating leasing revenue came to EUR 105.2 million, which was almost on a par with last year (Q3 2015: EUR 106.1 million; -0.9%).
  • EBT increased 14.1% to EUR 90.1 million (Q3 2015: EUR 79.0 million) clocking up a new record figure for a single quarter.

Rental and lease fleet substantially expanded
To keep with the strong demand, Sixt added around 162,300 vehicles to the rental and leasing fleet (9M 2015: 153,200 vehicles) during the first nine months of 2016 with a total value of EUR 4.32 billion (9M 2015: EUR 4.09 billion). This equals an increase of around 6% in the number of vehicles and the value of vehicles.

Outlook for the whole of 2016
As a consequence of the very good business development in Q3 and the business performance registered so far in the closing quarter, the Managing Board upgraded the economic targets for the full fiscal year 2016. The Board now projects consolidated EBT for fiscal year 2016 to come to at least EUR 200 million and will thus substantially exceed the previous year’s figure of EUR 185.2 million. The Board also expects consolidated operating revenue for fiscal year 2016 to register substantial gains (2015: EUR 1.94 billion). So far the Managing Board had envisaged a stable to slightly higher Group EBT as well as a slight increase in consolidated operating revenue.

Developments in the operating business units

Vehicle Rental
As of 30 September 2016, the worldwide number of Sixt rental stations (corporate and franchise) grew to 2,202, which is 49 more than at the end of last year (2,153). This increase is primarily the result of the expanding international franchise network.

The average number of fleet vehicles in the Vehicle Rental Business Unit (in Germany and abroad, excluding franchisees) for the first nine months of 2016 expanded to around 109,700 vehicles, an increase of 11.9% against the average figure for the same period last year (approx. 98,000 vehicles).

The business unit’s rental revenues in the period January to September 2016 climbed 13.4% to EUR 1.17 billion. Growth in the foreign markets was 24.5% reaching EUR 636.0 million. In the USA and in key European markets such as Spain and France, Sixt continued to generate generous double-digit growth rates compared to the same period the year before.

Leasing
Sixt Leasing SE, which bundles together all of the Sixt Group’s activities in fleet leasing, fleet management and online retail leasing, is one of Germany’s leading bank and vendor-neutral leasing companies. Sixt SE holds an interest of 41.9% in the stock-listed company.

As of 30 September 2016 the Leasing business unit’s total number of contracts inside and outside Germany (excluding franchisees and cooperation partners) climbed to around 111,000 contracts, which was a 7.5% gain against the end of 2015 (approx. 103,200 contracts). The ongoing growth driver for this is the dynamically growing Online Retail business field (private and commercial customer leasing) with its web-based platforms www.sixt-neuwagen.de and www.autohaus24.de. The business field achieved a 22.3% growth in contracts.

The business unit’s revenue rose 7.5 % during the first nine months of 2016 to EUR 527.6 million (9M 2015: EUR 490.8 million). This was mainly due to significantly higher proceeds from the sale of used leasing vehicles (+24.3%).

EBT gained 9.8% to EUR 23.9 million compared to the EUR 21.7 million in the first nine months of 2015. These figures already include the extra expenses incurred from the second quarter integration of the newly acquired broker for new cars, autohaus24 GmbH, as well as the costs for a TV ad campaign for private and commercial customer leasing.

Contact:
Frank Elsner
Sixt Central Press Office
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 / 99 24 96 – 30
Fax: +49 (0) 89 / 99 24 96 – 32
E-Mail: pressrelations@sixt.com

Note to editors:
The Quarterly Statement of Sixt SE as of 30 September 2016 can now be downloaded from http://ir.sixt.de/interim-reports.

The Sixt Group at a glance
(all figures in accordance with IFRS)1

Consolidated revenue development

in EUR million 9M
2016
9M
2015
Change
in %
Q3
2016
Q3
2015
Change
in %
Operating revenue 1,606.4 1,456.3 +10.3 602.9 569.4 +5.9
Vehicle Rental Business Unit 1,295.1 1,139.4 +13.7 497.7 463.3 +7.4
thereof rental revenue 1,173.9 1,035.0 +13.4 456.0 421.6 +8.1
thereof other revenues
from rental business
121.1 104.4 +16.0 41.8 41.6 +0.4
             
Leasing Business Unit 311.3 316.9 -1.8 105.2 106.1 -0.9
             
Revenue
from the sale of leasing vehicles
216.2 173.9 +24.3 73.7 60.8 +21.2
             
Other revenue 3.8 3.5 +8.0 1.3 1.2 +4.1
             
Consolidated revenue 1,826.4 1,633.7 +11.8 677.9 631.5 +7.4

 

Consolidated earnings development

in EUR million 9M
2016
9M
2015
Change
in %
Q3
2016
Q3
2015
Change
in %
Fleet expenses and cost of lease assets 648.2 603.4 +7.4 231.0 218.0 +6.0
Personnel expenses 227.3 198.4 +14.6 78.6 69.3 +13.5
Depreciation and amortisation 378.0 321.6 +17.5 134.7 124.0 +8.7
Net other operating
income/expense
-371.0 -333.3 +11.3 -132.5 -131.6 +0.8
Earnings before net finance costs
and taxes (EBIT)
201.9 177.0 +14.1 101.0 88.6 +14.0
Net finance costs -29.9 -23.3 +28.6 -10.9 -9.6 +13.4
Earnings before taxes (EBT) 172.0 153.8 +11.9 90.1 79.0 +14.1
Income tax expenses 49.4 44.6 +10.7 24.2 23.9 +1.4
Consolidated profit/loss 122.6 109.2 +12.3 65.9 55.1 +19.6
Earnings per share – basic
(in EUR)2
2.37 2.08   1.33 1.08  

 

Other key figures for the Group

  30.09.2016 31.12.2015 Change in %
       
Total assets (in EUR million) 4,125.1 3,660.5 +12.7
Rental vehicles (in EUR million) 1,995.8 1,763.3 +13.2
Leasing assets (in million EUR) 996.1 957.8 +4.0
Equity (in EUR million) 1,042.4 1,058.8 -1.6
Equity ratio (in %) 25.3 28.9 -3.6 points
       
  9M 2016 9M 2015 Change in %
Investments (in EUR billion)³ 4.32 4.09 +5.7

 

1 Due to roundings it is possible that selected figures in this release cannot be added up to the amount recorded and that the nine-months figures listed do not follow from adding up the individual quarterly figures. Furthermore, the percentage figures listed may not always exactly reflect the absolute numbers to which they refer.
2 Based on 47.5 million shares in the first nine months of 2016 and 48.1 million shares in the first nine months of 2015.
3 Value of vehicles added to the rental and leasing fleets

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