News Detail

Sixt Leasing SE: Business development in 2020 in line with expectations - Forecast for 2021 published

• Further milestones achieved in the digitalisation of products, services and internal processes
• Group contract portfolio and consolidated operating revenue impacted in particular by COVID-19 pandemic
• Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) burdened in particular by increased risk provisioning and transaction-related costs
• Outlook: Slight increase in Group contract portfolio, consolidated operating revenue in the range of previous year's figure and EBT in a higher single-digit million euro amount to be expected in 2021

Pullach, 24 March 2021 - Sixt Leasing SE, a leading provider in online direct sales of new vehicles in Germany as well as a specialist in the management and full-service leasing of large fleets, developed overall in line with expectations in the 2020 financial year. Business performance was particularly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the overall economic situation. According to preliminary calculations, the Group's contract portfolio and consolidated operating revenue declined compared to the previous year. Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) were very significantly below the previous year's level.

Business development
In the 2020 financial year, the expansion of the digital product and service portfolio in particular was further advanced. In the Online Retail business field, Sixt Leasing launched a sales cooperation with PAYBACK via its online platform sixt-neuwagen.de to market a Kia Stonic "VISION" to private customers. In addition, autohaus24.de was honored with the consumer award "Germany's Best Online Portals 2020" in the category "New Car Portals" from the news channel n-tv and the German Institute for Service Quality, and received the rating "High Recommendation" in the category "Car Leasing: Online Providers" in the FOCUS-MONEY study "Recommended by Customers".

In the Fleet Management business unit, the smartphone app "The Companion" for fleet customers was further developed and, among other things, upgraded with the digital payment function "Shell Payment@Pump". In the Fleet Leasing business field, Sixt Leasing digitised vehicle handover and return at its locations. In addition, the company was again voted best leasing provider by the readers of AUTO BILD after 2018 and received the "Company Car Award".

The contract portfolio in the Online Retail business field fell by 12.8 per cent to 38,600 contracts in the period from the end of December 2019 to the end of December 2020, particularly burdened by a reduced number of new orders due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as further vehicle returns from the 1&1 campaign conducted in the 2017 financial year. The contract portfolio in the Fleet Leasing business field declined by 6.6 per cent to 37,800 contracts, which was also due in particular to the pandemic. In the Fleet Management business unit, the contract portfolio increased by 3.9 per cent to 53,500 contracts. Overall, the Group's contract portfolio (excluding franchise and cooperation partners) thus decreased by 4.6 per cent to 129,900 contracts.

Consolidated revenue fell by 9.3 per cent year-on-year to EUR 747.7 million in the 2020 financial year. Consolidated operating revenue, which does not include the proceeds from vehicle sales, decreased by 9.6 per cent to EUR 423.3 million. This is mainly due to the significantly reduced vehicle utilisation as a result of the COVID-19-related contact restrictions and the associated decline in utilisation-related revenues. Sales revenues for lease returns and marketed customer vehicles in Fleet Management decreased by 8.9 per cent to EUR 324.4 million. This decline resulted on the one hand from the very strong first quarter of the previous year with a very high number of lease returns sold in the Online Retail business field and on the other hand from the restrictions on stationary motor vehicle sales, particularly during the first half of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 9.1 per cent to EUR 211.4 million in 2020. Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) fell by 68.9 per cent to EUR 9.1 million due to various special effects. As a result, the operating return on revenue (EBT/operating revenue) was 2.2 per cent (2019: 6.3 per cent). Consolidated profit decreased by 89.9 per cent to EUR 2.2 million compared to the same period in the previous year.

The lower EBT is in line with the adjusted expectations of 20 July 2020 and is due, among other things, to the volume effect in the marketing area described above, temporary sales support measures as well as increased marketing expenses at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, EBT was burdened by transaction-related costs in connection with the takeover of Sixt Leasing SE by Hyundai Capital Bank Europe GmbH (HCBE) as well as additional risk provisioning requirements for residual values amounting to a mid single-digit million euro figure. EBT adjusted for one-off and extraordinary effects from the takeover as well as risk provisioning amounted to EUR 20.8 million in the 2020 financial year.

Michael Ruhl, CEO of Sixt Leasing SE: "The digitalisation of our products, services and internal processes continues to progress. With the launch of our fleet customer app, the rebranding and realignment of our subsidiary autohaus24 and the introduction of a completely digital ordering process for private customers on sixt-neuwagen.de, we reached three further milestones in the implementation of our strategy in the first quarter of 2021. In addition, we have launched a long-term cooperation with Lidl and Vehiculum to market attractive new cars on the Internet."

Besides the further digitalisation of new car sales in the Online Retail business field, Sixt Leasing is also planning to introduce a mobility budget in the Fleet Management business unit in the 2021 financial year. This is intended to give fleet customers' employees the option - as an alternative or supplement to the company car - of using means of transport such as bus, rail, bicycle, car sharing or taxi. Another focus will be on diversifying the customer portfolio in the Fleet Leasing business field with smaller fleets and especially on service quality. In addition, the business model is to be expanded to include used car leasing.

Outlook
For the current financial year 2021, the Managing Board expects a slight increase in the Group contract portfolio compared to the previous year (2020: 129,900 contracts) and consolidated operating revenue in the range of previous year's figure (2020: EUR 423.3 million). With regard to EBT, the Managing Board expects a higher single-digit million euro amount (2020: EUR 9.1 million).

The reason for the cautious forecast for the full year 2021 is, in addition to the operating business development in the 2021 financial year to date, primarily the ongoing COVID-19 situation. In this respect, the company assumes that the market and business environment will continue to be strongly negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and expects a recovery in business development in the second half of 2021 at the earliest.

This assessment assumes that the current measures to combat the Corona pandemic will take effect in the further course of the year. These include in particular the vaccination campaign launched at the end of 2020, which of course depends significantly on the availability of suitable vaccines, and the increasing availability of rapid tests. In addition, the assessment assumes that the exit strategies from crisis mode currently being worked out by the governments at federal and state level will be successful and that the economy will pick up again from the second half of the year. Furthermore, the company assumes that the extensive financial support measures currently adopted or still to be adopted by the federal and state governments will cushion the economically negative effects on the national economies.

In addition, consolidated earnings will also be burdened in the 2021 financial year by transaction-related costs in connection with the takeover of the company by HCBE.

In this context, EBT for the first quarter of 2021 is expected to decline very sharply compared to the corresponding period of the previous year (Q1 2020: EUR 5.6 million) according to the Managing Board's estimates. This assessment takes into account the internal accounting status including February 2021 and the expected development in the current March.

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About Sixt Leasing:

Sixt Leasing SE based in Pullach near Munich is a leading provider in online direct sales of new vehicles in Germany 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 (WKN: A0DPRE / ISIN: DE000A0DPRE6) has been listed in the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) since 7 May 2015. In fiscal year 2020, the Group generated consolidated revenue of EUR 748 million.

www.sixt-leasing.com

Contact:

Sixt Leasing SE
Investor Relations
+49 89 74444 4518
[email protected]