Auditing firm KPMG has issued an unqualified audit for German leasing company Grenke AG covering the annual and consolidated financial statements for the period to 31 December 2020, Grenke said in a statement.
The Company will publish its 2020 annual report on 21 May, as announced.
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Grenke AG poised to publish KPMG-audited 2020 financial statement
“We have delivered. With the unqualified audit opinion, we are regaining trust,” said Antje Leminsky, chair of the board of directors of Grenke AG. “Investors, customers and employees can rely on Grenke.”
Against the preliminary figures published in April, KPMG revised up the Group net profit for 2020 by €8.5m, bringing the total to €88.4m.
Grenke AG ‘preliminary’ results show 41% fall in net profit in 2020
Grenke had earlier cited a net profit of €79.9m, against €135.9m in 2019. The revised calculation represents a 35% decline in Grenke’s year-on-year net profit.
This change resulted from a correction in the risk provision for 2019, which had been expressed as an option in the press release dated 30 April. This increase would have been higher but for the auditing costs of the annual financial statements.
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By GlobalDataAs reported on 30 April, the equity ratio on the balance sheet for 31 December was 16.3 per cent.
The board of directors said it plans to propose a dividend of 26 cents per share for the 2020 financial year (2019: 80 cents per share) to the annual general meeting.
This dividend amount corresponds to a payout ratio of approximately 14 per cent of the Group net profit, which is lower than the range of the previous payout policy, which in recent years has ranged between 25 and 30 per cent of Group net profit.
“We are also making it possible to distribute a dividend for the 2020 financial year by submitting an appropriate dividend proposal. We have taken into account both the special situation in 2020 as well as a healthy capital base for our long-term growth,” said chief financial officer Sebastian Hirsch on the dividend proposal, adding: “I am convinced that in the near term we will be able to return to our previous payout level.”
