Grenke AG — Earnings Release 2003

May 15, 2003

News Details

Ad-hoc | 15 May 2003 08:12

Grenke Leasing AG english

GRENKELEASING AG reports: 20 percent profit increase Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Baden-Baden, May 15, 2003: GRENKELEASING AG reports profit amounting to EUR 3.9m in Q1 2003. GRENKELEASING posts earnings before taxes (EBT) of EUR 6.4m in Q1 2003. This means an increase of 22 percent against the corresponding figure of EUR 5.3m in the previous year. As already reported in advance, the company’s new business (i.e. the total acquisition costs of newly purchased leased assets) rose by 16 percent in Q1 2003, from EUR 65m in 2002 to its present level of EUR 75m. The margin of new business (contribution margin 1), from which the financial result over the life of a contract is derived and which is thus a key indicator of profitability, grew superproportionally to EUR 7.9m in Q1 2003, as compared to a figure of EUR 6.6m in the previous year. Thus, in relation to acquisition costs, the margin come to 10.6 percent as opposed to 10.2 percent in the previous year. Domestic business grew by 19 percent in Q1 2003. GRENKELEASING’s foreign subsidiaries made a 22 percent contribution to the group’s new business. The company’s earnings situation developed on track in Q1 2003, compared to the same period of last year. After-tax profits increased by 20 percent to EUR 3.9m (compared to EUR 3.2m in the first three months of 2002). DVFA earnings per share rose from EUR 0.24 to EUR 0.29. The full three months report for 2003 is available under www.grenkeleasing.de Investor Relations – Figures. The Executive Board end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 15.05.2003 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Over the past few weeks the company has particularly focused on additional financing for its growing business. The GRENKELEASING Group finances its new business in Germany and Austria largely through so-called ABCP programmes (asset-backed commercial papers), i.e. money-market papers which comprise accounts receivable portfolios. These are issued by banks and are purchased by institutional investors. These programmes enjoy top ratings because they are hedged by the leased assets, the claims held against the lessees, and a payment discount. This doubtless very favourable type of financing will only be possible in other European countries in which GRENKELEASING has business operations once larger volumes of new business have been achieved, i.e. only after some years. What is more, despite European harmonisation efforts, the requirements for effective hedging are widely divergent from one country to the next and may incur considerable fixed costs. In order to secure further financing alternatives, GRENKELEASING AG has, over the last few weeks, subjected itself to Standard & Poor’s rating procedure. “The rating agency has issued an issuer rating of A-2 for our short-term liabilities and a BBB+ rating for our long-term liabilities, describing the outlook as stable. Given the current macroeconomic situation, we are satisfied with this investment grade since it puts us in the same circle as such well-known companies as DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Telekom, and Bertelsmann. The S&P rating gives us direct, low-interest access to the capital market without the need for corresponding collateral security,” says Wolfgang Grenke, Chairman of the Executive Board of GRENKELEASING AG, commenting on the outcome. (Further information on the credit rating is available at www.standardandpoors.de / www.ratingsdirect.com or www.grenkeleasing.de) The company made a first such addition to its existing financing a few days ago, placing a promissory-note bond of around EUR 50m with institutional investors. Given the opening of two further branches in Rostock and Magdeburg, GRENKELEASING currently has a domestic presence in 20 cities. GRENKE has been in the UK market since April, meaning that GRENKELEASING now has a foreign presence in 12 locations. In addition to its four French branch offices, it has one subsidiary each in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The start-up in Sweden is planned for this autumn. The number of employees rose from 252 in 2002 to currently 263 (as per closing date of the balance sheet, excl. executive board). The annual general meeting of the company on May 13, 2003 newly appointed Professor Dr. Ernst-Moritz Lipp to the supervisory board. The company will for the first time pay out a dividend of EUR 0.25 per share for the year 2002. The company’s articles of association have been correspondingly supplemented to allow implementation of all the recommendations and proposals of the Corporate Governance Code. GRENKELEASING AG is Germany’s nationwide market leader in small-ticket IT leasing, i.e. for products such as PC’s, notebooks, copiers, printers, or software up to an acquisition value of EUR 25,000. GRENKELEASING AG is listed in the Prime Standard segment of the German stock exchange in Frankfurt and has been taken up into the SDAX (small-cap) index. Information on the company and its products is available on the Internet under http://www.grenkeleasing.de. If you have any queries, please contact: GRENKELEASING AG, Neuer Markt 2, 76532 Baden-Baden Renate Hauss Phone: +49-7221/5007-204 Fax: +49-7221/5007-112 E mail: investor@grenkeleasing.de Internet: http://www.grenkeleasing.de ——————————————————————————– WKN: 586590; ISIN: DE0005865901; Index: SDAX Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 150812 Mai 03