The car rental company ALD published Thursday a record net result of 843 million euros for the year 2021, up 71.2% over one year, before the planned acquisition of its Dutch competitor LeasePlan.
The subsidiary of Socit Generale, specializing in fleet management, long-term vehicle leasing and new mobility, had recorded a profit of 564.2 million euros in 2019 and 509.8 million euros in 2020.
ALD has however recorded a slight decline in the number of its contracts, 1.726 million at the end of December 2021, against 1.76 million the previous year, in particular due to the non-renewal of the contract of a large company, specified the lessor in a press release.
But thanks to the tensions on the used car market, ALD achieved an average margin of 1,422 euros per vehicle in 2021, with even more than 2,600 euros in the last quarter, i.e. a total of 437 million euros for the year. for 308,000 vehicles sold.
Margins on rental and service contracts reached 1.3 billion euros, up 2.9% compared to 2020.
ALD’s results in 2021 are excellent, reflecting the strong increase in the fleet and margins, and driven by a record result on the sale of used vehicles, commented ALD’s managing director, Tim Albertsen.
The lessor’s board of directors has proposed to pay a dividend of 1.08 euro per share.
ALD expects to complete the takeover of LeasePlan by the end of 2022 for 4.9 billion euros and forecasts an annual growth of its fleet of 6% per year thereafter as well as 380 million euros in savings by 2025.
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For 2022, ALD anticipates a continued economic recovery, but believes that supply chains may not return to normal before the end of the year.
The lessor provides more than 1,000 euros of margin on average on each used vehicle sold and a distribution of the dividend with a ratio of 50% to 60%.
The share of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in its fleet is expected to exceed 30% on the European continent before the end of the year, after a threefold increase in orders from Tesla in 2021.