LeasePlan Corporation NV's net profit rose 6% to £204 million while its fleet grew 8% to 1.62m vehicles in the first six months of 2016.

The company said its performance continues to be strong, reflecting growth of the global fleet, increased margins on lease services as well as strong contributions from vehicles sold and damage risk retention.

Higher regulatory and liquidity requirements also impacted net profit, as did investments to strengthen the company’s position in new segments, M&A activities and IT solutions.

Vahid Daemi, CEO of LeasePlan, said: "LeasePlan continues to invest in the future.

"This was evidenced by the further increase of our fleet size with an additional 130,000 vehicles under management over the past 12 months.

"Our clients clearly appreciate our new service offerings for small and medium-sized enterprises and private leasing, leading to rapid growth in this client segment.

"Profit continues to be strong as a result of improved operating efficiencies and economies of scale, which were partly offset by higher regulatory and liquidity requirements, and our investments to strengthen the company’s position as the leading global fleet management and driver mobility company.

"In that respect, we are strengthening our IT organisation, stepping up our marketing efforts in SME and private lease and expanding our global presence, particularly in Asia.

"We plan to become operational in the Malaysian market in the third quarter of 2016, which will be LeasePlan’s 33rd country of presence and our base for further expansion in the Far East region.

"All in all, we are pleased with our performance and our further progress in executing the LeasePlan strategy.”

Its half-year net profit of £204m includes an unrealised loss on derivative financial instruments (£6.8m net).

In the first half year of 2015, LeasePlan benefited from positive one-time items (£8.5m net) and unrealised gains on derivative financial instruments (£4.3m net).

Excluding these items, net profit for the first six months of 2016 increased by 6% compared to half-year 2015.

The SME and private lease segment continued to show the fastest business increase with a year-on-year portfolio growth of 14.2%.

LeasePlan will be hosting the Fleet Insight Theatre at Fleet Management Live, which takes place at the NEC in Birmingham on October 19 and 20. To register for your free ticket or to find out more, visit http://www.fleetmanagementlive.co.uk/

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