Turnover and profits have risen at global vehicle leasing and fleet management company LeasePlan in the first quarter of this year as its fleet size increased to nearly 1.7 million vehicles.
The company said fleet growth and ‘resilient income streams’ were behind a rise in gross profits of 5% to €399 million in Q1 2017 compared to the same period last year, with revenues up 6% to €2.4 billion.
Gross profits was driven by higher profit contributions from fees and interest margin, lease services and insurance, partially off-set by a slightly lower contribution from vehicle sales.
Leasing revenues increased by €115 million to €1.6 billion compared to the first quarter last year.
LeasePlan’s underlying net result for the quarter grew by 21% to €146 million with the increase in fleet size, improved lease margins and higher insurance income all having an influence.
The ongoing roll out of fleet insurance products and services across the group resulted in a growth of the insured fleet of 54,000 vehicles during the past 12 months.
The company also pointed to success in sustainable transport and mobility sectors, with the launch of its electric vehicle centre of expertise this year and a pan-European vehicle supply partnership with Uber.
Tex Gunning, CEO of LeasePlan, said: “LeasePlan has delivered yet another strong set of results in Q1 2017, highlighting again the strong and resilient nature of our business.
“In addition, in Q1, we were delighted to launch a pan-European partnership with Uber, underlining our increasing presence and expertise in the fast-growing ‘mobility as a service’ segment.”
He added that the ‘Power of One LeasePlan’ initiative launched this year would strengthen the organisation.
He said: “Going forward, this will enable us to leverage the strength of our organisation across all LeasePlan countries, the value chain and our functional competencies - enabling us to quickly unlock significant additional value for our customers and investors."
Funding remained stable with various private placements, an increase in LeasePlan Bank retail deposits by €447 million to €5.8 billion and a successful issuance of £425 million of securitised notes.
LeasePlan will relocate its head office from Almere to Amsterdam next month. LeasePlan Corporation and LeasePlan Bank will move to the UN Studio building in the Zuidas business district. LeasePlan Netherlands’ office remains in Almere.
