• Preliminary net interest income rises by 5.8% to EUR 269.3 million in the first nine months of 2024 (Q1-Q3 2023: EUR 255.0 million)
• Due to higher expenses for settlement of claims and risk provisioning, preliminary Group earnings for the first nine months of 2024 decreased by 11.5% to EUR 57.0 million (Q1-Q3 2023: EUR 64.4 million) and by 50.0% to EUR 12.0 million in the third quarter of 2024 (Q3 2023: EUR 24.0 million)
• The loss rate for the first nine months of 2024 is 1.3% (Q1-Q3 2023: 1.0%); the loss rate for the third quarter rose significantly to 1.5% (Q3 2023: 1.1%)
• Forecast for 2024 Group earnings has been adjusted to EUR 68 million – EUR 76 million (previously: EUR 95 million – EUR 115 million)
• Guidance for new business reaffirmed   

Baden-Baden, October 29, 2024: grenke AG, a global financing partner for small and medium-sized enterprises, achieved preliminary Group earnings of EUR 57.0 million in the first nine months of 2024 (Q1-Q3 2023: EUR 64.4 million). The decrease of 11.5% is due to the higher expenses for the settlement of claims and risk provisioning. The cause is the continuously rising number of insolvencies, particularly in the core markets of France, Spain, and Germany. As a result, the settlement of claims and risk provisioning increased from EUR 26.7 million in the first quarter and EUR 28.3 million in the second quarter to EUR 37.8 million in the third quarter of the current financial year. In the fourth quarter, the settlement of claims and risk provisioning is expected to be at a similar level as in the third quarter of 2024.

The loss rate increased from 1.1% in the first half of this year to 1.5% in the third quarter of 2024. In line with the higher settlement of claims and risk provisioning, the goodwill for the Spanish subsidiary, amounting to EUR 4.4 million in the third quarter, will be written off in full.

The preliminary Group earnings for the third quarter, based on these two extraordinary effects, is EUR 12.0 million (compared to EUR 19.8 million in the first quarter and EUR 25.2 million in the second quarter of 2024). For the full year 2024, the Company now expects Group earnings in the range of EUR 68 million and EUR 76 million (previously: EUR 95 million to EUR 115 million). The forecast for new business in the 2024 financial year of EUR 3.0 billion to EUR 3.2 billion remains unchanged.

“Although we are very well positioned due to our strong diversification, the current rise in insolvencies among our existing customers does not, of course, leave us entirely unaffected,” explains Dr. Sebastian Hirsch, CEO of grenke AG. “What is crucial is that the demand for leasing solutions remains strong. In addition, the valuable data and insights we are now gaining about payment behaviour offer tremendous potential. We will leverage this information to continuously improve our forecasting accuracy in our leasing markets and optimise our receivables management.”

Dr. Martin Paal, Chief Financial Officer of grenke AG, adds: “Despite the influence of the current development in risk provisioning on the quarterly and annual results, it is important to note that we have laid critical foundations in key areas that will secure our long-term profitability. The strong growth of our leasing portfolio in the first three quarters of this year has led to an increase in our net interest income. We also have our costs under control and will gradually increase our efficiency.”

Further rise in net interest income and higher settlement of claims

In the third quarter of 2024, net interest income rose by 7.4% to EUR 92.8 million (Q3 2023: EUR 86.5 million) due to the continued growth of leasing new business. This positive effect was also reflected in the profit from service business, which increased by 8.4% to EUR 37.5 million (Q3 2023: EUR 34.6 million), and in the profit from new business, which grew by 26.7% to EUR 13.5 million (Q3 2023: EUR 10.7 million). In contrast, there was a significant rise in the absolute expenses for settlement of claims and risk provisioning, primarily due to the growth of the leasing portfolio, and an increase in defaults and the resulting higher impairments. The 13.8% increase in staff costs in Q3 2024, from EUR 43.2 million to EUR 49.2 million, was in line with expectations.

The cost-income ratio (CIR) rose to 60.8% in the third quarter of 2024 (Q3 2023: 57.0%), primarily due to the goodwill write-off of EUR 4.4 million.

Forecast for 2024; adjustment in earnings range guidance

grenke is forecasting unchanged leasing new business in the range of EUR 3.0 billion and EUR 3.2 billion for the 2024 financial year, with a slight increase in the CM2 margin compared to the previous year. At the same time, the Board of Directors is adjusting the forecast for Group earnings from EUR 95 million to EUR 115 million to EUR 68 million to EUR 76 million, based on the expectation that expenses for settlement of claims and risk provisioning will remain at the level of the third quarter. The expectation for the average loss rate for the 2024 financial year remains unchanged at below 1.5%.

The quarterly statement for the 3rd quarter and Q1-Q3 2024 will be available online under “Reports & Presentations” on November 14, 2024.

Overview of preliminary, selected income statement key figures (in EUR million)

Note: Rounding differences may occur between individual values and the actual figure achieved in euros.