International growth in Europe and the US has helped Germany-based ground transport provider Sixt to record its “best operating result in a first quarter”.
The car rental company grew in European countries outside of Germany as it gained market share from competitors, with revenue up by 93 per cent on 2021 to €213.4 million and up 22.2 per cent versus 2019.
In its home market of Germany, Sixt’s revenue also grew by 32.3 per cent year-on-year to €181.2 million but this was down by 17.6 per cent from the 2019 figure of €220 million.
The company's overall first-quarter revenue of €580.8 million was up 76.1 per cent year-on-year and an increase of 14.8 per cent compared with three years ago. Growth was particularly strong in the US with revenue more than doubling to €186.1 million compared with €82.3 million during the same quarter of 2021.
Consolidated earnings before tax increased to €93.5 million, compared with a loss of €13.7 million one year ago.
Sixt’s global fleet, excluding franchise countries, numbered around 125,000 vehicles in the first quarter, nearly the same level as in 2019 (129,000 vehicles) and up 35 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2021 (93,000 vehicles).
The company anticipates that demand to remain strong in all markets for the second and third quarters, however, the supply of new vehicles is likely to remain scarce in the months ahead, which meant that prices “are likely to remain high”.
Sixt’s chief financial officer Kai Andrejewski said: “We have gotten off to a very good start into the year and are seamlessly continuing the strong business development of the previous year.
“Our active fleet policy has contributed significantly to the fact that we are roughly at the pre-crisis level of 2019."