7 Forecast
At the time this report was compiled, the spectrum of economic forecasts for 2008 ranged from a continuation of the economic upswing, although slightly weaker, to a marked decline in growth. However, the leasing market is expected to continue showing a positive growth dynamic well above general developments. The shortage of credit for small and medium-sized companies anticipated by market observers as a result of the subprime crisis could also increase the demand for alternative forms of financing such as leasing or factoring. The company expects that the demand for collection services in 2008 will maintain its high level in all receivables segments. Estimates suggest that the German IT market for software, services and hardware will grow by up to 4.6%. The company expects the trend set in 2007 to continue, i.e. that development will largely depend on investments in the application area and on servicing, while growth in the systems market will only be modest.
Because of its balanced business model, the GFKL Group expects its growth trend to continue in 2008. In the current year, GFKL Group’s target is once again to expand its position in the markets already opened and to continue extending the established business segments to cover new markets.
GFKL aims to increase revenues by approximately 20% during the business year 2008. In this context, the target is to achieve an EBT margin of approximately 2.5% and to continue increasing this in coming years.
Essen, March 14, 2008
GFKL Financial Services AG
Dr. Peter Jänsch Jürgen Baltes Dr. Till Ergenzinger Dr. Tom Haverkamp
