Sixt closes 2020 with a slight profit and announces new co-CEOs

In spite of the pandemic, Sixt has closed 2020 with a slight profit. The company continues its international expansion, particularly in the US, and its growth into new fields like Van & Truck. In the summer, CEO Erich Sixt will step back and be replaced by Alexander and Konstantin Sixt as co-CEOs.

Small profit in Europe

Following evaluation of preliminary figures, Sixt closed 2020 with a marginally positive EBT of €7.3 million despite the massive collapse in travel activities worldwide. Given the significant restrictions and decreases in demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the high investments made in the US, the biggest growth market, the Group's consolidated EBT came to €-81.5 million and stayed within the communicated corridor between €-70 million to €-95 million. After taxes and including the result from the discontinued Leasing Business Unit, the Group actually achieved a small profit of €2.0 million.

Corporate EBITDA, which refers to the consolidated operating result including interest result and depreciation and amortisation on rental vehicles, even reported a clear profit of €75.6 million for the Mobility segment for 2020. Sixt’s diversified business model with its ongoing stable capacity utilisation in the city offices as well as the area of long-term rentals and car subscriptions, allowed the mobility service provider to keep the drop in Group revenue at -38.8% to €1.53 billion and thus well below the average drop in international air traffic, which collapsed by 76% from the previous year.

Erich Sixt, CEO of Sixt SE, said: “SIXT acted, stayed true to its course and used the crisis above all as an opportunity, instead of simply waiting for better times. The fact that we even managed to bring in a small profit in Europe, proves the success of our crisis management and the adaptability of our business model even in this exceptional situation. Still more important though, are our investments in the future.”

US expansion

After the acquisition of ten strategically important airport stations in the US, Sixt is now the fourth strongest vehicle rental provider in the US. Sixt is now present at 25 of the 30 key airports in the country. The number of downtown stations also increased from 65 to 100.

Sixt+ car subscription

The car subscription service Sixt+ was integrated as the fourth product category into the ONE mobility platform, alongside Sixt rent (vehicle rental), Sixt share (carsharing) and Sixt ride (transfer services).

Sixt+ is now available in Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, the US and Switzerland. The company reports over 10,000 subscribers have signed up for the service.

New Van & Truck department

Since 1 January, the Van & Truck segment has been represented on the Managing Board of Sixt SE by its own department, signalling Sixt sees it as an attractive long-term growth market, not least because of the rise of online retailing. The strategic objective envisages attaining a market-leading position in Europe as well as a relevant market share in the US.

New CEOs

The longstanding CEO of Sixt SE, Erich Sixt (pictured, right), will resign from the Managing Board after the company’s annual General Meeting on 16 June, at the age of 76, after which he will go on to preside the Supervisory Board of Sixt.

Erich Sixt will be succeeded by his two sons Alexander (pictured above, left) and Konstantin Sixt (pictured above, right) who have been members of the Management Board since 2015 and who will be joint Chairmen of the Board and co-CEOs from 17 June.

Image: Alexander Sixt (left) and Konstantin Sixt (right), co-CEOs of Sixt SE from 17 June