Grenke achieves €1.7bn in new leasing in 2021

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renke Group, a provider of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, generated new leasing business of €1,657.8m during the 2021 financial year, which was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and global supply bottlenecks in the second half-year.

This figure represents 81.7% of the previous year’s level (FY 2020: €2,027.9m) and is at the upper end of the €1.5 to €1.7bn forecast for new business adjusted in November.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, new leasing business was €521.2m, or 22.1% higher than in the same quarter last year. New leasing business corresponds to the total acquisition costs of all newly purchased leased assets.

Michael Bücker, CEO of Grenke AG: “The positive trend, especially in the final weeks of December ... clearly indicates a returning willingness to invest by European SMEs.”

An increase in new leasing business was achieved in all regions in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter of the prior year. The region Western Europe without DACH achieved the strongest growth with 44.5%, followed by Northern/Eastern Europe with an increase of 35.6%, and Southern Europe with a rise of 18.9%. Other regions generated a year-on-year increase in new leasing business of 17.0%. The DACH region registered a slight improvement in new leasing business of 1.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year.

Grenke Group Factoring’s new business recorded a purchased receivables volume of €191.8m in the fourth quarter, amounting to a year-on-year increase of 6.5% (Q4 2020: €180m). New factoring business for the full year of 2021 amounted to €700.9m, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.2% (2020: €647.8m).