European leasing and fleet management company LeasePlan has posted results showing net profitability down 9.2% in 2018 compared to the previous year.
The fall, down to €424m for the year, was in part attributed to impairments in Turkey and Germany, and costs incurred in preparation for a potential IPO.
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The serviced fleet of the Amsterdam-based company was up 4.4% to 1.82 million vehicles, attributed by LeasePlan to demand for its Car-as-a-Service business from the corporate and SME segments.
LeasePlan’s used car retailer carnext.com had B2C volumes up 55% to 13,775 vehicles in Q4, in the full year up 65% to approximately 50,000 vehicles sold.
Tex Gunning, chief executive officer 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%. 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.
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By GlobalData“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’.”
Last November LeasePlan’s chief financial officer and Europe chief operating officer stepped down from the board by mutual agreement.
Gijsbert de Zoeten, previously senior vice president for finance and chief financial officer since last year, left along with chief operating officer for Europe, Marco van Kalleveen.
A spokesperson for LeasePlan said the company would now start the search for a new finance head, with no current preference for an internal promotion or an external hire. Van Kalleveen’s positions, meanwhile, will be eliminated and the responsibilities taken over by chief executive officer Tex Gunning.
