German-based Sixt SE reported a good business performance for the first nine months of 2013, according to its latest financial report — exceeding the company's own expectations. The performance could be due to a very strong third quarter, which saw positive domestic demand from business and private customers in the vehicle rental business unit as well as ongoing growth abroad.

The Sixt Group reported that for the first nine months of 2013 its earnings before taxes (EBT) was EUR 114.6 million, which was almost the total for the full year 2012 (EUR 118.6 million). Compared to the first nine months of 2012 (EUR 104.0 million), this adds up to an increase of 10.2%.

At EUR 56.8 million, the third quarter 2013 generated the strongest quarterly result in the company's history, says Sixt. Therefore, the managing board has upgraded its projections for the full year 2013 and expects the group’s EBT to finish above last year’s figure of EUR 118.6 million.

“Business performance for the second half of the year has been very encouraging and exceeds our expectations,” said Erich Sixt, chairman of Sixt SE’s managing board. "Once again, Sixt is vindicating its top position for profitability in the industry. Even today, it is highly likely that we will close out 2013 with a very good result."

In the first nine months of 2013, Sixt’s total consolidated revenue increased 4.2% from EUR 1,204.9 million to EUR 1,255.5 million. According to Sixt, a strong Q3 lead to 2013 rental revenue increasing 6.7% to EUR 774.6 million — compared to EUR 725.7 million in 2012 during the same period. At six months this year, growth had been a mere 2.9%.

Sixt added a total of 121,500 vehicles to its rental and leasing fleets (value of EUR 3.04 billion) in the first nine months of 2013, compared to 118,500 vehicles over the same period last year (value of EUR 2.86 billion). This equals an increase of 2.5% in the number of vehicles and 6.3% in vehicle value, according to Sixt.

Earnings performance was affected by growth in operative business, a high utilization of the rental fleet and low expenses for refinancing, says Sixt. The cost side included start-up costs for growth initiatives such as expanding rental business in the U.S. and the car-sharing service DriveNow.