Grenke AG — Earnings Release 2004

Aug 12, 2004

News Details

Ad-hoc | 12 August 2004 07:49

GRENKELEASING achieves 40 per cent profit growth

Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Baden-Baden, August 12, 2004: GRENKELEASING AG reports 40 per cent profit growth in HY1 2004. GRENKELEASING’s earnings situation has continued to develop favourably. Earnings before interest, tax and valuation of financial instruments (EBIT) rose 42 per cent from last year’s comparable of EUR 13.7 million to a current level of EUR 19.5 million in HY1 of this year. Earnings before tax (EBT) came to EUR 18.7 million over the same period. This means an increase of 36 per cent against last year’s comparable of EUR 13.7 million. After-tax profits increased by 40 per cent to EUR 11.8 million (compared to EUR 8.4 million in the first six months of 2003). As already reported in advance, GRENKELEASING’s new business – the total acquisition costs of newly acquired leased assets – came to EUR 175 million. It grew by 19 per cent against the previous year. 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 profitability indicator, grew to a level of EUR 19.7 million in HY1 2004 against last year’s comparable of EUR 16 million, representing an increase of 24 per cent. Growth in its new business was particularly strong abroad, reaching 36 per cent – particularly in France where the figure was 45 per cent. GRENKELEASING’s foreign subsidiaries made a 26 per cent contribution to the group’s new business. Domestic new business grew by 14.5 per cent. EPS increased against last year from EUR 0.62 to EUR 0.87 in HY1 2004. The full six-month’s report for 2004 is available under www.grenkeleasing.de Investor Relations – Figures. The Executive Board Should you have any queries, please contact: GRENKELEASING AG, Neuer Markt 2, D-76532 Baden-Baden Renate Hauss Tel: +49-7221/5007-204 Fax: +49-7221/5007-112 E-mail: investor@grenkeleasing.de Internet: http://www.grenkeleasing.de end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 12.08.2004 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: “One of GRENKELEASING’s core competences is the cost-efficient administration of leasing contracts. The cost/income ratio – a key figure first published in Q1 of this year which marks the relationship between costs and earnings – is a good indicator of this. It has continued to show a positive trend and in the period under review it fell back to 43.6 per cent against last year’s comparable of 49.6 per cent. We have clearly managed to further strengthen our edge in this respect”, added Chairman of the Executive Board, Wolfgang Grenke, commenting on the interim figures. GRENKELEASING achieved an average share price of EUR 32.35 in the period from July 9 to August 5, 2004. This means the conditions for exercising the employee stock option programme of 2002 have been fulfilled: an average annual share price increase of more than 15 per cent. Employees will shortly be able to exercise 50 per cent of the options granted to them, amounting to a total of 86,778 options, allowing them to purchase shares in the company at a more favourable acquisition price of EUR 19.64. Employees are then entitled to exercise a further 25 per cent in each of the next two years, i.e. 43,389 options. The group recorded 51,349 leasing enquiries in HY1, leading to the generation of 25,600 new leasing contracts. The average value per concluded contract came to EUR 6,823 in HY1 and is thus as good as unchanged compared to the previous year (HY1 2003: EUR 6,813). The company now has operations in 13 European countries. GRENKELEASING is represented in 20 cities throughout Germany. In addition to its four French branch offices, it has one subsidiary each in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. In the UK and Poland GRENKELEASING is using a franchise system to limit the costs during the start-up phase and nevertheless achieve a high degree of identification with the strategic targets of the group among employees located there. This means GRENKELEASING AG has not taken up a direct stake in the locally operating company and instead provides the know-how, the operating infrastructures, and services within the scope of a franchise agreement. The operational side of its business in Ireland is due to commence in August of this year. The company expects to open further branch offices in Aix-en-Provence (France) and in Lausanne (Switzerland) in the second half of this year. GRENKELEASING is the German and Swiss 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 a listing on the SDAX (small-cap) index. There has been a change in the supervisory board of the company: due to a serious traffic accident, Dr. Bernd Ruge has given up his office as a member of the supervisory board for health reasons with effect as of June 4, 2004. Information on the company and its products is available on the Internet under 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 120749 Aug 04