Press release 30.06.2008
Strong Start to the New Business Year
- 19 percent increase in Group sales
- Large order gained in the Collection segment
- Good prospects for the 2008 financial year
Sales and result
In the first three months of the current financial year GFKL Financial Services AG increased its Group sales by 19 percent from € 255.5 million to € 303.4 million.
The Group’s results before taxes decreased from € 7.2 million to € 6.8 million. The company views this as a temporary fluctuation between the quarters, as, for example, there have been significant initial costs in the course of a large project in the high margin Collection division.
The Group result dropped as compared to the previous year from € 4.3 million to € 3.4 million as a result of short-term tax effects in the first three months. This increased tax burden is chiefly attributable to the loss posted by the subsidiary ADA in the Systems division (see following section on divisions). As this loss cannot be directly set off against other profits of the company group and no deferred taxes have been formed on the assets side of the balance sheet, the tax base is about € 2 million higher than the consolidated Group result. GFKL is considering the possibility of making up the formation of deferred assets during the course of the year, depending on the results at ADA.
The goal of increasing Group sales by about 20 percent set in the 2007 financial report and simultaneously increasing the result before tax, also by about 20 percent, remains unaffected.
Sectors
The GFKL Group reported a new leasing business volume of € 222.7 million (previous year € 178.2 million) in the first quarter of 2008. This corresponds to an increase of 25 percent. Hereby, a 42 percent share is attributable to the foreign leasing companies.
The Collection sector achieved increased sales of 39 percent to a total of € 32.2 million (previous year € 23.1 million). The pre-tax margin in this business sector was at an excellent level of 19 percent. The extension of an existing servicing-order for cancelled, commercial real estate loans to an additional volume of almost € 170 million is worth special mention, as well as the conclusion of a further comprehensive outsourcing mandate to managing outstanding premium payments in the insurance industry. In the course of the cooperation with one of the leading German insurance groups the GFKL subsidiary Sirius Inkasso is set to establish a branch in Cologne.
With regard to GFKL’s technology sectors the development of the Systems department in the first quarter of 2008 must be particularly outlined. While there has been a slight drop in sales from € 33.4 to € 32.4 million, the result before taxes decreased from € 1 million to a deficit of € -2.1 million. This is attributable on the one hand to changes in a framework contract with a large customer, which resulted in a decreased margin. On the other hand project postponements decreased sales in the high margin services business. The company expects a delayed achievement of the deficit during the course of the year. In today’s viewpoint it can thus be assumed that the sales and income situation in the systems business sector will clearly improve over the entire year.
Balance Sheet
The GFKL Group reported a balance sheet total of € 1,275.6 million (previous year € 980.2 million) as of 31 March 2008. With equity of the Group at € 162.5 million, (previous year € 151.8 million) this represents an equity ratio of 12.7 percent (previous year 15.5 percent).
GFKL Financial Services AG
GFKL is a fast-growing financial services provider focusing on leasing and collection services. The software and systems areas are the technological complements to this spectrum of services. GFKL is thus able to assist clients in financing investments, organizing processes and safeguarding liquidity during every phase of the business process.With 2,600 employees the GFKL Group achieved sales of € 1.2 billion in the 2007 financial year.
Press contact:
Katrin Schwarz
Head of Group Communications
and Investor Relations
Tel.: +49 (0)201/102-1192
Fax: +49 (0)201/102-1102-462
E-Mail: katrin.schwarz@gfkl.com
www.gfkl.com
