The car rental company Sixt is benefiting from higher demand and higher prices and is heading for a record year. “The third quarter was the best quarter in our company’s history,” said Chief Financial Officer Kai Andrejewski in Pullach and was a little more optimistic: Annual profit before taxes should now reach the upper end of the targeted range of EUR 500 to 550 million.
After nine months, Sixt has already generated a pre-tax profit of EUR 506 million. The time of rental cars at bargain prices seems to be over: “We are assuming that the price level will be permanently high in the future,” emphasized the CFO.
Outlook for the coming year
The travel activity and willingness to spend of consumers and corporate customers could therefore weaken next year. But Sixt can expand or contract its rental fleet like an accordion, “70 percent of our costs are variable.” In addition, Sixt is broadly positioned regionally and according to customer groups and is expanding further in North America.
The USA is now the largest single market for Sixt. Sales there grew by over 60 percent in the first nine months. Further stations and the entry into business with corporate customers are in preparation, said Andrejewski. In other European countries, sales grew by 47 percent due to the strong summer business in the holiday regions.
In the third quarter, the group generated sales of EUR 997 million and profit before taxes of EUR 283 million, despite high investments. After taxes, 201 million euros remained.
For the year as a whole, Sixt is targeting sales of between EUR 2.8 and 3.1 billion. Despite the difficult procurement situation, the car rental company has increased its fleet to an average of around 136,500 vehicles – 13 percent more than in the previous year. “In the USA we are able to procure cars,” which is sometimes more difficult in Europe. The situation is a little more relaxed, but not yet at the pre-corona level. Eleven percent of the Sixt fleet is electrified.
