De Lage Landen more than doubles Net Profit
• Net profit increases by €54 million to €101 million
• Credit portfolio up to €25.6 billion
• Improved conditions on the used car market
• Promising outlook for solar financing business
CEO statement
“The figures speak for themselves,” says CEO Ronald Slaats. “I think we can be proud of ourselves. Compared with the same period of last year we more than doubled our net profit, which ended up at €101 million. Our credit portfolio grew to €25.6 billion; a 6% increase since year end 2009 and we managed our risk costs quite well. But we’re not out of the woods just yet. We do see some economic stabilization in various parts of the world, but the recovery is still quite fragile. Consistent risk management and cost consciousness remains key. In addition we need to leverage and truly combine the strength of all of De Lage Landen Group entities. We will continue focusing on cooperation and synergies within De Lage Landen. This will result in a unified customer proposition and optimized customer service.”
Core activities
Commercially, the first half of 2010 was quite satisfying for De Lage Landen’s vendor finance business. Although the recovery is not consistent across business units and regions, the company’s vendor finance activities overall generated better than budgeted results. The Car Lease business too outperformed budget. The order volume started picking up, especially in the second quarter and in general conditions on the used car market are more favorable. In the challenging Dutch home market, De Lage Landen has strengthened its market position. The corporate leasing segment performed well and the outlook for the third quarter is positive. The SME segment has however been hit harder by the economic downturn and investments in this segment are slow in picking up so far. Both Factoring and Consumer Finance continued to post positive new business volumes. Freo, De Lage Landen’s brand for consumer finance was named best consumer credit provider for the second year in a row.
Corporate Social Responsibility
De Lage Landen continued building on the four pillars on which the company’s CSR philosophy rests: the way the company wishes to do business, sustainable & innovative solutions, community involvement and eco efficiency. The new business pipeline for solar financing continues to advance at an even pace, especially in the US, and the company expects a strong fourth quarter of closings. Credit application acceptance policies are being aligned with De Lage Landen’s CSR standards and as a first step to reduce its CO2 emissions by 20% by 2014, the company has analyzed its CO2 footprint at country level. By contributing both money and manpower to local projects and charities, De Lage Landen aims to have a positive impact on the local community it operates in. Employees across the group have initiated local activities and have volunteered in charities such as United Way, Toys for Tots, Make a Wish Foundation and Share4More.
