LeasePlan announces Q4 and full year 2018 results

LeasePlan Corporation N.V., one of the world’s leading Car-as-a-Service (“CaaS”) companies and pan-European used-car marketplaces, has reported its fourth quarter and full year 2018 results.

Highlights of the company’s reporting include:

• A net result up 12.9 per cent to 71 million euros in Q4, though the full year was down 9.2 per cent to 424 million euros, including “impairments in Turkey and Germany”.
• An underlying net result up 6.4 per cent to 108 million euros in Q4, with the full year up 8.4 per cent to 576 million euros after strong underlying performance in “Car-as-a-Service” (CaaS) and CarNext.com.
• Serviced fleet up 4.4 per cent to 1.82 million vehicles driven by demand for CaaS from corporate and SME segment.
• Lease & Additional Services (CaaS) Q4 underlying gross profit up 3.5 per cent to 365 million euros, full year up 6.6 per cent to 1,489 million euros.
• com B2C volumes up 55 per cent to 13,775 vehicles in Q4, full year up 65 per cent to approximately 50,000 vehicles and a 21 per cent run-rate for B2C sales penetration. Used Car-as-a-Service (UCaaS) contracts were up 60 per cent in Q4 to approximately 1,900 and 150 per cent for the full year to 8,000.
• “The Power of One LeasePlan” operational excellence programme delivered approximately 55 million euros of benefits over 2018 bringing the total to 185 million euros, a portion of which were passed on to customers in the form of efficiencies, the company states.

Tex Gunning, CEO of LeasePlan, said: “I am delighted to announce another set of solid results for our Car-as-a Service and CarNext.com businesses in 2018 as well as a strong Q4. We now have over 1.8 million cars on the road in more than 30 countries, our Q4 underlying net result continued to increase and our underlying return on equity is now 17.3 per cent. These results underscore the strength of our strategy to lead the megatrend from ownership to subscription models for both new and high-quality used cars.

“Our core Car-as-a-Service business for new cars continued its strong performance in 2018, supported by the positive impact of our “Power of One LeasePlan” operational excellence program, which has now been fully embedded in the organization. In addition, we have continued to strengthen our offering of innovative, sustainable products and services. This includes our full package EV solution – which now has been rolled out in 10 countries.

“Over the year, we also significantly grew our disruptive CarNext.com marketplace for high-quality used cars. Launched just over a year ago, CarNext.com sold close to 50,000 cars B2C and is now available for both B2B and B2C customers in 22 countries, supported by a network of 32 delivery stores. CarNext.com’s innovative Used Car-as-a-Service proposition also grew an impressive 150 per cent to 8,000 cars, reflecting the growing demand for subscription services in the used car segment.

“Looking ahead, our leadership position across both of our businesses will be enhanced by our commitment to offering what’s next in sustainable mobility services and our Digital LeasePlan program, which we began to implement across the company in 2018. Digital LeasePlan will enable us to provide a best-in-class digital service to our customers at lower cost levels, and ultimately enable us to deliver ‘any car, anytime, anywhere’.”