Sixt has posted financial year results for 2023, achieving 18% revenue growth and a second consecutive record-high result in the company’s history.

Sixt posted 18% revenue growth while its rental fleet also reached a record size

The rental and mobility giant achieved a consolidated revenue of €3.6bn (£3.1bn), marking growth of 18.1% compared to the previous year and 44.7% compared to 2019, pre-Covid.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 16% on the previous year at €1.33bn (£1.1bn) and also at a record level.

Earnings before taxes (EBT) of €464.3m (£397.5m) marked the second-best result in the company’s history and exceed the pre-Covid record year 2019 by more than 50%.

Its rental fleet also reached a record size of 169,100 rental vehicles on average, compared to 138,400 vehicles in the previous year (excluding franchises for both).

Alexander Sixt, co-CEO of Sixt SE, said: “Our earnings are all the more remarkable considering the significant deterioration in market conditions for e-mobility over the course of the year, rising interest rates and continued high levels of investment. I would like to sincerely thank all our employees for their accomplishments over the past year.”

Sixt said such deteriorating market conditions particularly included the “severely worsened” environment for the sale of used electric vehicles over the course of 2023. As an example, residual values in Germany fell by more than 20% during the past year.

The losses from EV sales led to a negative impact on earnings in the range of around €40m (£34m) for 2023.

At the same time, Sixt said it had been hit by lower-than-expected demand for e-mobility, despite investing millions in high-profile electric car marketing campaigns and also investing into charging infrastructure.

It estimates that without these two effects relating to e-mobility, the last financial year would have closed with EBT above the record year 2022.

To counter this, Sixt brought forward the phasing out of electric risk vehicles – EVs for which there are no buyback or leasing agreements and for which Sixt therefore bears the residual value risk itself – significantly. It’s now halved the percentage of such vehicles in the electric Sixt fleet compared to March 2023.

The rental giant commented: “Demand for e-mobility as a whole has not yet developed the momentum desired by politics in many places, as evidenced not least by the latest registration figures.”

It’s said that EVs will continue to make up part of the Sixt fleet in the future, but further developments “require a high degree of flexibility”. Sixt had previously set a goal of reaching a share of 70-90% electrified vehicles – including plug-in and mild hybrids in Europe by 2030.

The recently announced deal with Stellantis underscores its flexible approach. The agreement, announced mid-January 2024, will see Sixt buy up to 250,000 Stellantis group vehicles for its rental fleet in markets across Europe and North America by 2026. This spans cars and vans and includes electric vehicles, but it’s said that order composition past 2024 will be flexed to fit fleet requirements and demand.

Last year also saw Sixt sign a deal add 100,000 electric cars from Chinese carmaker BYD to its rental fleet by 2028. It also recently launched its Sixt charge product in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Already piloted in the Netherlands, it makes Sixt the first major car rental company to integrate a charging solution into its app.

Priorities in the current year include a focus on a further expansion of the premium strategy and digitalisation.

Konstantin Sixt, co-CEO of Sixt SE, said: “In order to successfully continue our growth trajectory, we aim to continue attracting a great number of new customers and further strengthen the loyalty of our existing customer base. A key driver will be making car pick-up and return even faster and more convenient through digitalisation, while at the same time pushing the availability and quality of service onsite to an even better level.”

Andrew Smith, managing director of Sixt UK, added: “With several new locations set to open across the country this year as well as our growing fleet, we will continue to provide premium mobility options to customers. Whether short-term car rental and ride-hailing or long-term solutions like the Sixt+ subscription service, the Sixt app offers all of these transport options in one place.”