German independent lessor Grenke Leasing has reported a 20.1% year-on-year growth in new business volume, which amounted to 1.36bn (£1bn) in 2015.
The boost in volume, which includes franchise partners, exceeded the company’s growth forecast of 11-15%.
Grenke Leasing segment’s new business in Germany increased by 18.3% year-on-year, while double-digit growth (10.3%) was also recorded in France, the company’s core market, "despite intense competition."
A year-on-year growth trend was also witnessed in the company’s other key markets, Italy (40.6%), the UK (14.6%) and Switzerland (25.0%).
In 2015, the Grenke Group recorded 355,273 lease applications (289,578 thereof were international), which generated 159,000 new lease contracts (125,469 thereof were international). The average term per lease contract amounted to 8,553 and was moderately higher than its level in the previous year (2014: 8,163) but was still at a low level, which is typical for our business.
Grenke Group Factoring’s new business (including franchise partners) rose by 55.5% year-on-year to 324.6m (2014: 208.8m) in 2015.
The new business volume of the Grenke Group, which includes Grenke Leasing, Grenke Factoring and Grenke Bank, grew by 26%, to 1.7bn (2014: 1.35bn).
The international share of Grenke Group’s new business in 2015 amounted to 71.7% compared to 70.1% in 2014.
In 2015 the group opened five new branches, two in Germany and one in the UK, France and Sweden. The group currently operates in 28 locations in Germany and a total of 85 locations internationally.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, the group entered its first market in South East Asia with the conclusion of a franchise contract in Singapore. In its Factoring segment, it completed its entry into the Irish market.
Jörg Eicker, chief financial officer at Grenke Leasing, said: "During the 2015 fiscal year, we expanded our refinancing basis and took advantage of a broad range of instruments. We put our position in the capital market to the test with our placement of a bond in December totalling over 100m with an interest coupon of 1.375% and a term of roughly 5 years.
"Our successful approach was recently confirmed by the rating received by Gesellschaft für Bonitätsbeurteilung ("GBB"), who in December raised our credit rating from "A-", to "A" with a stable outlook. Not only a strong financial position but also a strong equity base is very important for the Grenke Group. Therefore, at this year’s annual general meeting, we are considering the option to offer Grenke’s shareholders a scrip dividend once again as attractive opportunity to increase their investment in Grenke."
