pressures in its key country businesses, particularly the UK and
France, the Dutch lessor expects profits to grow
year-on-year.
A spokesperson for the company said: “Next to the ongoing credit
crunch we see a deterioration of residual value developments in
some of the larger countries of the group, especially in the UK and
Spain.
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“Notwithstanding that, the outlook for the whole year is
positive and the expectations are that the net profit of the
continuing operations will exceed the level of year-end 2007.”
LeasePlan, a car and CV lessor, reported continuing growth in
the first half of 2008 despite challenging market conditions, with
an increase in profit from operations of 4.7 percent to €117.2
million, compared to the same period in 2007.
Its lease contract portfolio has grown by €557 million, or 4
percent, to €14.4 billion since December 2007.
The company highlighted that almost all subsidiaries belonging
to the group were able to show continued growth in all sectors,
both in fleet numbers and in financial results.
However, the turmoil in the financial market has influenced the
company’s funding strategy. It has recently raised close to €1
billion in bank funding by reverting to bank and securitisation
markets.
More liquidity was raised through the securitisation of
LeasePlan’s German operational lease portfolio, worth over €660
million.
Antonio Fabrizio
