Sixt SE: In 2018 SIXT achieves the most successful fiscal year in the Company's history and becomes the largest European mobility service provider

18.03.2019 / 10:00
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

In 2018 SIXT achieves the most successful fiscal year in the Company's history and becomes the largest European mobility service provider

• Consolidated revenue up by 12.6% to EUR 2.93 billion
• SIXT Group generates highest earnings before taxes (EBT) in its history at EUR 534.6 million
• Successful continuation of US expansion and strengthening of market position
• Dividend to increase to EUR 2.15 for ordinary shares and EUR 2.17 for preference shares
• SIXT drives digitisation of its business forward with the world's first integrated mobility platform ONE and launches new app
• Positive outlook for fiscal year 2019
• Erich Sixt, CEO of SIXT SE: 'Economically, SIXT has never been as strong as it is today. 2018 was the fifth record year in succession.We are excellently equipped to play a key role in shaping the global mobility market. In terms of Group revenue, we are now the largest European mobility service provider in our industry.'

Pullach, 18 March 2019 - SIXT SE once again showed record figures for revenue, earnings and profitability in fiscal year 2018, based on preliminary calculations. In the Company's most successful fiscal year ever, consolidated revenue rose 12.6% to EUR 2.93 billion. Earnings before taxes (EBT) came to EUR 534.6 million, some 86.1% higher than the previous year's figure of EUR 287.3 million. Adjusted by the income from the sale of the stake in the carsharing company DriveNow, EBT comes to EUR 336.7 million. This is equivalent to an increase of 17.2%. This means that in relation to revenue development, the purely operating business once again generated significant above-average growth in earnings. The operating return on revenue came to 13%. Based on the strong business development, the Managing Board is planning to increase the dividend to EUR 2.15 for ordinary shares (2018: EUR 1.95) and EUR 2.17 for preference shares (2018: EUR 1.97, both without special dividend).

Erich Sixt, CEO of SIXT SE: 'Economically, SIXT has never been as strong as it is today. 2018 was the fifth record year in succession. We are excellently equipped to play a key role in shaping the global mobility market. In terms of Group revenue, we are now the largest European mobility service provider in our industry. We want to keep driving this growth forward into the future, especially by digitising the vehicle rental business. Thus, becoming a global provider for individual mobility.'

SIXT benefits from increasing demand
In its home market in Germany, the SIXT Group increased its revenue by 7% to EUR 1.62 billion with both business units, Vehicle Rental and Leasing, contributing to this development. Outside Germany, SIXT is growing due to its expansion activities in the Vehicle Rental Business Unit and generated consolidated revenue of EUR 1.31 billion in the past fiscal year. This equals an increase of 20% compared with the fiscal year 2017. In the Vehicle Rental Business Unit, SIXT was able to further expand its market leadership in Germany and win over additional market shares in such core markets as France, Spain and Great Britain. In Italy, SIXT has also shown a profit in the second year since its market entry. In the USA, the world's largest vehicle rental market, SIXT successfully continued its expansion and expanded its position as number four in the market. Revenues rose by almost 19% to EUR 382.4 million. The expansion of the US station network was successfully continued with seven new locations. The earnings situation continued to improve in fiscal year 2018, following last year's first positive result since market entry.

Key Group figures for fiscal year 2018

• SIXT Group's total revenue rose 12.6% to EUR 2.93 billion (2017: EUR 2.60 billion).
• Consolidated operating revenue (excluding revenue from the sale of used leasing vehicles) rose 12.5% to EUR 2.60 billion (2017: EUR 2.31 billion). The driving factor here was the ongoing strong growth in the Vehicle Rental Business Unit in Western Europe and the USA. The share of foreign business in consolidated operating revenue continued to increase to 49.6% (2017: 46.1%)
• The Vehicle Rental Business Unit's operating revenue rose 14.2% to EUR 2.13 billion (2017: EUR 1.87 billion). Foreign business operations gained 22.8% and operating revenue in Germany climbed 4.3%. The share of foreign business came to 57.8% (2017: 53.8%).
• Operating revenue for the Leasing Business Unit (excluding revenue from the sale of used leasing vehicles) came to EUR 467.9 million, a gain of 5.4% on the previous year (EUR 443.9 million).
• Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT), the SIXT Group's principal success parameter, rose 86.1% to a record level of EUR 534.6 million (2017: EUR 287.3 million). Discounting the one-time effect (EUR 197.8 million) from the sale of the DriveNow stake, EBT came to EUR 336.7 million, which, compared to revenue growth, is an above-average gain of 17.2%. The positive earnings development is essentially due to the earnings contributions from France, Italy, Spain and the USA.
• The EBT margin - in relation to consolidated operating revenue - came to 20.6%, and after adjustment for the one-time effect it came to 13.0%, thus once more exceeding the already very good figure of 12.4% from the previous year.
• Consolidated profit (including minority interests) more than doubled from EUR 204.4 million in 2017 to EUR 438.9 million.

Jörg Bremer, CFO of SIXT SE: 'In the past fiscal year, SIXT managed to see all key financial parameters gain significantly. We continued to expand successfully and also improve our consolidated return on revenue to exceptional 13%. We want our shareholders to participate appropriately in this success and will therefore increase the dividend once more.'

Managing Board proposes dividend increase
Subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, the Managing Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting on 4 June 2019 an increase in the dividend for fiscal year 2018 to EUR 2.15 for ordinary shares (2018: EUR 1.95) and EUR 2.17 for preference shares (2018: EUR 1.97). In 2018 the Company paid out an additional special dividend of EUR 2.05 for both share categories for the sale of the DriveNow stake. The total dividend payout for fiscal year 2018 will thus come to EUR 101 million.

New SIXT app offers additional growth opportunities
At the end of February 2019 SIXT introduced its new app with digital vehicle rental, carsharing and ride-hailing products, all based on the mobility platform SIXT ONE. SIXT now offers its customers the products SIXT rent, SIXT share and SIXT ride all under the roof of one app. Since its launch, the app climbed from position 56 into the TOP 10 of the app download charts in the 'Travel' category. SIXT share already started successfully in Berlin and will be available for customers as of today in Hamburg. The offer is set to expand into further business areas in Germany and abroad.

By merging vehicle rental and carsharing, SIXT is breaking up the boundaries of today's existing services. SIXT rent turns the SIXT app into a digital counter. SIXT share offers customers the freedom to pick up their car whenever and wherever they want and to return it flexibly across business areas and in future in all of SIXT share's business areas, as well as at around 2,200 SIXT stations worldwide. With SIXT ride, customers can make advance or instant bookings for taxis, drive and transfer services. To this end, the Company is cooperating with more than 1,500 partners worldwide and can thus provide its own customers a network of well over one million drivers. The platform is open for future partners, who in turn will gain access to the approximately 20 million SIXT customers.

Alexander Sixt, the Managing Board member responsible for Organisation and Strategy of SIXT SE: 'With our new app we are taking the next strategic step. We are digitising our core business, vehicle rental, and connect it to our new carsharing offer SIXT share. This way we are bringing together what belongs together and are offering our customers the flexibility they require while positioning ourselves once again as the innovation leader in our industry. Moreover, with SIXT ride we are giving our clients access to a worldwide pool of drivers based on our new mobility platform SIXT ONE. Here we are not the provider of services but a cooperation partner, and thus benefit from the existing infrastructure. We create for ourselves and our partners new growth potentials and economies of scale. Because the challenges of the future can only be mastered together, we are clearly looking at a partnership alliance for mobility.'

Positive outlook for fiscal year 2019
SIXT looks confidently forward to the fiscal year 2019, even though experts consider the macroeconomic conditions to be generally weaker than they considered them in 2018. For 2019 the Managing Board expects to see ongoing growth in demand, which continues to be driven primarily by foreign business in the Vehicle Rental Business Unit. To this end, SIXT will continue to pursue a demand-driven fleet policy. The further expansion in the European countries outside Germany and in the USA, the continuous digital interlinking of the fleet and the gradual implementation of the service range in the SIXT app will require further investments in the medium term. At the same time, however, SIXT expects additional growth impulses as a result. Against this background and assuming that the overall economic environment does not deteriorate significantly, the Managing Board expects consolidated operating revenues to rise significantly and consolidated EBT to be stable in 2019 compared with the previous year (excluding the sale of the DriveNow stake in the previous year).

About SIXT
Headquartered in Pullach, near Munich, Germany, SIXT SE is a leading international provider of high-quality mobility services. With its products SIXT rent, SIXT share and SIXT ride, the Company offers a unique, integrated range of mobility services in the areas of vehicle rental, carsharing and ride services. These products can be booked via a single app that also integrates the services of renowned mobility partners. SIXT is present in approximately 110 countries worldwide. The Company's strengths lie in its consistent customer focus, its living culture of innovation with a strong technological expertise, its high share of premium cars in the fleet and an attractive price-performance ratio. The SIXT Group generated revenues of EUR 2.93 billion in 2018 and is one of the most profitable mobility service providers worldwide. SIXT SE, the Group's parent company, has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 1986 (WKN ordinary shares: 723132, WKN preference shares: 723133). https://about.sixt.com

Contact:

Julia Hoffstaedter
SIXT Central Press Office
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 / 7 44 44 - 6700
E-mail: [e-mail]

Notes:

The data given correspond to the current, still provisional state of affairs. SIXT SE's final Consolidated Financial Statements for 2018 will be published on 17 April 2019. Key preliminary fiscal year figures for the Group are available as of today from the website http://ir.sixt.euunder the section 'Financial Reports'.

The SIXT Group at a glance
(Preliminary data according to IFRS; rounding differences may occur)

Group's revenue development			Change
in EUR million	2018	2017	in %
Operating revenue	2,599.0	2,309.3	+12.5
Rental Business Unit	2,131.1	1,865.4	+14.2
Thereof rental revenue	1,940.5	1,686.7	+15.0
Thereof other revenue from rental business	190.7	178.7	+6.7
Leasing Business Unit	793.2	733.5	+8.1
Thereof leasing revenue	234.7	227.1	+3.4
Thereof other revenue from leasing business	233.2	216.8	+7.5
Thereof sales revenue	325.3	289.6	+12.3
Other revenue	5.2	3.9	+33.9
Consolidated revenue	2,929.5	2,602.7	+12.6
Group's earnings performance			Change
in EUR million	2018	2017	in %
Fleet expenses and cost of lease assets	1,000.6	895.2	+11.8
Personnel expenses	419.8	364.9	+15.0
Depreciation and amortisation expense	538.7	509.7	+5.7
Net other operating income/expenses	-597.3	-507.8	+17.6
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)	373.1	325.1	+14.8
Net finance costs	161.5	-37.8	-527.3
Earnings before taxes (EBT)	534.6	287.3	+86.1
Thereof Rental Business Unit	301.6	250.7	+20.3
Thereof Leasing Business Unit	30.7	30.0	+2.4
Income tax expense	95.7	82.9	+15.5
Consolidated profit	438.9	204.4	+114.7
Earnings per share (in EUR)	9.08	4.09
Other key figures for the Group	31 Dec. 2018	31 Dec. 2017	Change in %
Total assets (in EUR million)	5,193.3	4,491.0	+15.6
Rental vehicles (in EUR million)	2,605.2	2,076.0	+25.5
Lease assets (in EUR million)	1,204.4	1,219.2	-1.2
Equity (in EUR million)	1,442.0	1,177.9	+22.4
Equity ratio (in %)	27.8	26.2	+1.6 points
	2018	2017	Change in %
Investments (in EUR billion)1	7.02	6.11	+14.8
Average number of rental vehicles (Group)	131,300	114,300	+14.9
Number of rental offices as at 31 Dec. (worldwide)2	2,174	2,211	-1.7
Number of leasing contracts as at 31 Dec. (Group)	129,700	132,900	-2.4

¹ Value of vehicles added to the rental and leasing fleet

² Incl. franchise countries

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