Sixt Group Significantly Increases Profitability in First Half of 2017

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sixt Rent-a-Car, a leading international provider of high-quality mobility services operating in more than 100 countries worldwide, delivers its customers key strengths such as a high value-vehicle fleet, a consistent service orientation and innovation culture and a good price-performance ratio. Sixt utilizes state-of-the-art technology, meeting the needs of today's tech-savvy consumer. The company recently detailed its continued efforts to expand in the United States, announcing the opening of two upcoming locations in San Diego and San Antonio. The parent company—the Sixt SE of Pullach, Germany— has recently released consolidated earnings for the 2^nd Quarter of 2017.

During the first half of 2017, the Sixt Group registered strong gains in earnings that outstripped it's internal projections. Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) improved by a quarter (+25.3%) to USD 112.2 million. Accordingly, the operating return on revenue (EBT to consolidated operating revenue) gained 1.4 percentage points, climbing to 9.6%. In the second quarter, it actually reached 11.5%. Sixt benefits from ongoing strong foreign operations in its Vehicle Rental business, above all in such key markets as Spain, France and the United States. As announced back on July 20^th, the Management Board upgraded its outlook for the full fiscal year 2017.

Erich Sixt, CEO of Sixt SE has issued the following statement:
"With an operating return on revenue of nearly 10% during the first half of the year, Sixt has demonstrated yet again that we are presumably the most profitable international vehicle rental provider in the world. Outside of Germany, we are benefitting significantly from our growth initiatives, such as the successful launch of corporately-owned operations in Italy. Shifting tourism flows in the Mediterranean region, to countries such as France and Spain, have also been beneficial. All in all, our outlook for the current fiscal year has become substantially more optimistic."

Key Sixt Group figures for the first six months of 2017:

• Sixt Group's consolidated revenue for the period between January and June of 2017 climbed to USD 1.33 billion, a gain of 5.7% (H1 2016: USD 1.26 billion).
• Consolidated operating revenue (excluding revenue from the sales of returned leasing vehicles) went up 6.3% to USD 1.17 billion, compared to USD 1.10 billion generated over the same period the year before.
• Operating revenue for the Vehicle Rental Business Unit came to USD 927.4 million, a gain of 6.4%. Foreign operations climbed by 12.3% to USD 495.3 million, benefitting from numerous measures geared at intensifying sales and marketing activities in the Western European countries and the USA. In popular holiday destinations, such as Spain and France, demand was boosted given political instability in other Mediterranean countries. The share of foreign business in operating revenue continued to climb, up from 50.6% in H1 2016 to currently 53.4%.
• Operating leasing revenue (without the proceeds from sales) increased 6.0% to USD 238.8 million (H1 2016: USD 225.3 million). Sixt Leasing SE managed to expand its Group contract portfolio substantially in the first six months over the figure at the end of 2016 and added some 13.5% to a total of 128,900 contracts. Growth was carried through by the highly dynamic development in its private and commercial customer leasing (Online Retail business field), which saw its contract portfolio grow by 55.1%.
• Group earnings before taxes (EBT) climbed in spite of ongoing high expenditures for expansion measures and new mobility offers, gaining a significant 25.3% to USD 112.2 million (H1 2016: USD 89.5 million).
• For the first six months Sixt recognized consolidated profit before third party interests of USD 79.7 million, a gain of 28.5% (H1 2016: USD 62.0 million).

Key Sixt Group figures for Q2 2017

• In Q2 of 2017, the Group recorded a gain in consolidated revenue of 5.5% to USD 704.5 million (Q2 2016: USD 667.9 million).
• Consolidated operating revenue rose 6.6% to USD 627.0 million
  (Q2 2016: USD 588.3 million).
• Q2 recorded a very strong gain in EBT, up by 29.5% to USD 71.9 million (Q2 2016: USD 55.5 million).

Increased investments
From January to June of 2017, Sixt added roughly 121,400 vehicles to its rental and leasing fleet (H1 2016: approx. 115,900 vehicles) with a total value of USD 3.75 billion (H1 2016: USD 3.35 billion). This equals an increase of around 4.7% in the number of vehicles, and around 11.8% in the investment volume.

Outlook for the full-year 2017

In light of strong business performance during the first six months, and the business development recorded so far in the third quarter, the Management Board announced July 20^th that it would upgrade its outlook for the full year of 2017.

The Board now projects a significant increase in consolidated EBT (2016: USD 238.6 million). Sixt also expects solid growth of the consolidated operating revenue (2016: USD 2.32 billion). Prior to this, the Management Board had envisaged a stable to slightly higher Group EBT, as well as a slight increase in consolidated operating revenue.

Sixt SE's complete, mid-year financial report is available by going to the following link: http://ir.sixt.eu.

Exchange rate for currency translation purposes: 1 euro = 1.09318 US Dollar

SOURCE Sixt Rent-a-Car