4 Assets
As of December 31, 2007, the GFKL Group disclosed a balance sheet total of € 1,277.2 million (previous year € 972.2 million). With consolidated equity amounting to € 162.0 million (previous year € 147.3 million), the resulting equity ratio reaches 12.7% (previous year 15.2%).
The volume of new business and the change to the inventory of defaulting loans and receivables acquired for settlement are highly significant factors in the development of GFKL’s consolidated balance sheet. With new leasing business amounting to € 853.9 million (previous year € 726.6 million), the total volume of leasing and hire-purchase receivables in the Group as of December 31, 2007 rose to € 1,345.4 million (previous year € 1,173.2 million). € 972.4 million was accounted for by unbalanced receivables sold into the current ABCP programs and the ABS bond (previous year € 899.3 million). The balanced leasing and hire-purchase receivables amounting to € 373.0 million (previous year € 273.9 million) comprise non-current receivables amounting to € 228.2 million (€ 177.2 million) and current receivables amounting to € 144.8 million (€ 96.7 million). Compared to the previous year’s balance sheet date, leasing assets increased from € 159.0 million to € 190.8 million.
The inventory of acquired defaulting loans and receivables showed a marked increase of € 67.7 million during the business year, rising to € 193.0 million (previous year € 125.4 million).
General statement on the Group’s economic position
The Executive Board assesses the Group’s economic position at the time of reporting as being generally positive. As evidenced by the information given in the annual report, the GFKL Group achieved a marked increase in revenues while raising the pre-tax margin (EBT) slightly from 2.6% to 2.7%. The surety for this profitable growth was the balanced nature of the company’s business model. In this way, the narrowing of margins in the Credit segment (leasing) was compensated by increasing profitability in the Collection division. During the current year, the GFKL Group will therefore devote special attention to expanding the high-margin collection business. Liquid funds amounting to € 109.1 million enable GFKL to make use of attractive acquisition opportunities and invest in NPL portfolios on its own account.