News

• Operating profit increases by 6.2 % to EUR 2.61 billion
  
• Total portfolio now just under 20.3 million contracts (+5.5 %)
  
• Total assets climb to EUR 207.6 billion (+11.1 %)
  
• EUR 850 million to be saved annually starting 2025

Volkswagen Financial Services have posted a new record operating profit for the financial year 2018 and recorded total assets of more than EUR 200 billion for the first time. In addition, an efficiency programme has been launched that aims to yield annual savings of EUR 850 million from 2025 onwards. This, together with the digitalisation of the business model, forms the basis for achieving the strategic goals of the company. "Thanks to our very good performance over recent years, we are today able to set the course for the future from a position of strength. We are therefore optimising our cost structure and continuing to work intensively on the digitalisation our business model," says Lars Henner Santelmann, Chairman of the Management Board of Volkswagen Financial Services AG. Frank Fiedler, Chief Financial Officer of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, adds: "The very good result was primarily based on the growth of our current contract portfolio. Our focus in future will be on efficiencies as well as sales. Volkswagen Financial Services have set themselves the target of achieving a cost-income ratio of 40 percent by the year 2025." This ratio was 49.0 % at the end of 2018.

With a figure EUR 2.61 billion, another record result was attained in 2018 (+6.2 %, previous year: EUR 2.46 billion). The portfolio of current contracts also reached a new high in 2018 with a total of just under 20.3 million units recorded at the end of the year (+5.5 %, previous year: 19.7 million units). The total assets of the Volkswagen Financial Services division at the end of last year amounted to EUR 207.6 billion (+11.1 %, previous year: EUR 186.9 billion).

"Our intention is to reach a portfolio of 30 million contracts by 2025 and also save EUR 850 million each year from then onwards. This will be achieved by enhancing our productivity, by introducing standard IT systems and by optimising our sales costs," Santelmann says.

Chief Financial Officer Fiedler is cautiously optimistic about performance this year: "Although considerable macroeconomic uncertainties are impacting the current financial year 2019, we expect the Volkswagen Financial Services division to achieve a good year-end operating result at the previous year's level because we will also be seeing the first fruits of success from our efficiency programme."

Volkswagen Financial Services grew in almost all product categories during 2018. The main growth drivers for the level of contracts were services such as maintenance and wear and tear and the fleet business in Europe. This latter field of activity will become even more important in the future as a result of the company's participation in FleetLogistics, Europe's largest fleet management company. The spectrum of mobility services is also being expanded by the recent acquisition of LogPay Financial Services GmbH and the related entry into the business segment of local public transport payment processing. The acquisition of both companies is still subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities.