Ad-hoc | 27 January 2006 07:40

GRENKELEASING AG: EPS rises by 22 %, Strong Expansion in Europe

Ad hoc announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Baden-Baden, 27 January 2006: GRENKELEASING posts a net result before interest and tax (EBIT) of EUR 46.8 million for the financial year 2005, representing a year-on-year increase of 19 % (2004: EUR 39.3 million). After-tax profits increased by 22.8 % to EUR 29 million (2004: EUR 23.6 million). Earnings per share (EPS) rose from EUR 1.74 to EUR 2.13 in 2005. The European markets made a significant contribution to the net result, accounting for around 30 % of earnings in the past financial year. The strategy of building an European platform has paid off and the results achieved are a good starting point for continuing the company’s business development. As already reported, the group’s new business (i.e. the total acquisition costs of newly purchased leased assets) rose from EUR 363 million in 2004 to EUR 419 million in 2005. This corresponds to year-on-year growth in new business of 15.4 % for the full year 2005. The growth in new business was also driven by the company’s foreign activities. Foreign business grew by 42.8 % against the previous year and contributed 32.9 % (previous year: 26.6 %) to the group’s new business. Its French subsidiary achieved growth of 37.2 %. Its Swiss business increased by 18.4 %. Despite two fewer workdays than the previous year and a very high base, the company’s new business in Germany rose by 5.5 %, outperforming the overall growth of the economy. The margin of new business (contribution margin 1) – a key profitability indicator of new business – improved to EUR 47.4 million in 2005 (against last year’s comparable of EUR 39.9 million), corresponding to an increase of 18.8 %. The statutory account of GRENKELEASING AG shows retained earnings of EUR 46.9 million. At the annual general meeting due to be held on 9 May 2006, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board will submit a dividend proposal of EUR 0.50 per share for the financial year 2005 (FY 2004: EUR 0.40 per share). The GRENKELEASING Group’s financial report for 2005 is available under www.grenkeleasing.de INVESTOR RELATIONS – Figures. The Executive Board Should you have any queries, please contact: Renate Hauss Tel: 07221/5007-204 Fax: 07221/5007-112 E mail: investor@grenkeleasing.de Internet: http://www.grenkeleasing.de End of ad hoc report GRENKELEASING AG Neuer Markt 2 76532 Baden-Baden Deutschland ISIN: DE0005865901 (SDAX) WKN: 586590 Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart End of ad hoc announcement (c)DGAP 27.01.2006 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad hoc announcement: “We are very pleased with the positive trend in earnings in 2005. The development of our foreign activities is particularly encouraging. Our financial result for 2005 is confirmation of our efforts to establish the GRENKE business model in Europe. The further improvement of the cost/income ratio, from 43.2 % in 2004 to 40.6 % in 2005, shows we have achieved this expansion without compromising our margin and increasing our costs. Our Europeanisation strategy has enabled us to increase our market share and presence in Europe. We continued to enter into important strategic cooperations in 2005. We have also consistently broadened our funding base by placing another Euro bond”, says Dr. Uwe Hack, CFO of GRENKELEASING AG, commenting on the consolidated financial statements. “We again plan to achieve double-digit growth rates in our new business and earnings in 2006 through constant and profitable growth. The focused expansion of our European activities, the continued development of our cooperations, and the growth in our franchise partnerships are all building blocks on our way to become the market leader in small-ticket IT leasing in Europe. Another item on our agenda is the continues expansion of our refinancing options”, explains Wolfgang Grenke, Chairman of the Executive Board, describing the corporate objectives for 2006. The average number of employees rose from 285 in 2004 to 339 in 2005 (on a full-time basis, excluding the Executive Board). 37 employees are employed by the group’s franchise companies. The group recorded 108,315 leasing enquiries in financial year 2005 (ex- Germany: 40,831), leading to the closing of 56,450 new leasing contracts (ex- Germany: 18,353). The average value per contract reached EUR 7,427, slightly higher than in the previous year (2004: EUR 7,047). The company now has operations in 15 European countries. GRENKELEASING is represented in 20 cities throughout Germany. In addition to its six French branch offices and three branch offices in Switzerland, the company has subsidiaries in Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, and Belgium. A franchise system gives GRENKELEASING a presence in the UK, Poland, and Norway. GRENKELEASING mainly offers small-ticket IT leasing contracts, i.e. for products such as PC’s, notebooks, copiers, printers, or software having relatively small transaction values. The company is the German and Swiss market leader in this segment. GRENKELEASING AG is listed in the Prime Standard segment of the German stock exchange in Frankfurt and has a listing on the SDAX (small-cap) index. Information on the company and its products is available on the Internet under http://www.grenkeleasing.de End of message (c)DGAP