PULLACH (dpa-AFX) - Customers' desire to travel continues to play into the hands of car rental company Sixt. However, the company is feeling the inflation on the cost side. According to Sixt, the price level "continues to move significantly above 2019", the level before the Corona pandemic. For the time being, there should be no change in the unusual development of sales: "In view of the continuing good demand and with a view to the positive booking situation with airlines and hotels, we currently expect a positive development for the summer season as well," said CFO Kai Andrejewski, according to the statement. The message was well received on the stock exchange.

Shortly after the opening of trading, the Sixt ordinary share rose by up to around four percent. However, the stock could not quite maintain the level, but was with a plus of two percent in the MDax top field. Sixt has made a solid start, commented Jefferies analyst Konstantin Hesse in an initial statement. Christian Obst of Baader Bank added that there were no signs that growth at Sixt would weaken in the coming months.

In the first three months of the current year, revenue rose by almost a fifth year-on-year to 695 million euros, the company said Thursday in Pullach, near Munich. Due to high demand with scarcer availability, rental car providers have been able to call significantly higher prices for some time. Sixt scored particularly well in its home market of Germany and in the United States. The Group expanded its fleet primarily with premium cars from BMW, VW subsidiary Audi and Mercedes-Benz, for which it is likely to charge even higher prices.

However, Sixt is now also feeling the effects of inflation-related cost increases and the costs of last year's accelerated growth offensive to a greater extent. As a result, pre-tax profits slumped by 64.4 percent to 33.3 million euros. The company's profit thus fell slightly short of analysts' estimates. Below the line, profit fell by two thirds to 22.2 million euros. The Management Board confirmed its annual forecast of a "substantial" increase in sales and a pre-tax profit of between 430 and 550 million euros. Managers are pinning their hopes on the summer and vacation season and the improved availability of rental cars./ngu/mne/zb