Germany's largest car rental provider, Sixt, cited growth in
other European markets and a reduced fleet last week as reasons behind its
return to profit in the first half of 2010. The group made a pre-tax profit of
€34.8 million, compared with a loss of €25.5 million in the first six months of
2009.
Rental revenue was up 2.6 percent, with all the growth
coming in the second quarter, which was up 5.5 percent. The company reported
that much of the improvement was in European countries outside its home market.
Sixt has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Benelux, Austria
and Switzerland, giving it coverage in more than 70 percent of the total
European marketplace. It also has franchisees in about 90 countries. In total,
it has 1,843 locations worldwide, of which 508 are in Germany.
Sixt turned in increased rental revenue while shrinking its
fleet by 7 percent from 67,700 vehicles to 62,800. The group also succeeded in
lowering its costs.
Sixt said it expects to return a substantial improvement in
profits for full-year 2010, but remains cautious in its outlook. "Of
course, Sixt does not yet enjoy the same profitability it had before the
recession and the financial crisis, but we are well on our way back to that
level," said Erich Sixt, chairman of the managing board. "Our
principles of setting our priority on increasing profitability over growing our
volume and of pursuing a cautious fleet policy are paying off better and
better. I am fundamentally confident about the second half as well. However,
excessive optimism would be out of place, given that the economic environment
in Europe remains fragile."