Hitachi Capital (UK) has published its financial results for FY 17/18, announcing a significant rise in group profits and strong performance across its five key business units.

For the 2017/18 financial year, Hitachi Capital (UK) reports profit before tax (PBT) of £116.4m, a rise of 7.1% over the previous financial year.

Hitachi Capital (UK) PBT is 8.4% higher than the average PBT among FTSE 250 companies of £106.9m.

It marks the ninth successive year the company has increased profits and represents more than six times the amount of profit before tax generated in the 2009/10 financial year (PBT 09/10: £18.8m).

On a group basis, Hitachi Capital (UK) generated £3.5bn of new business and ended the year with net earning assets of £4.8bn – a rise from £3bn and £4.1bn in financial year 2016/17, respectively.

Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions generated profit before tax of £24m in 2017/18 and has grown significantly over the past 10 years.

Its annual volume of business has risen from £100m in 2009 to £370m in 2017/18 and now operates more than 67,600 assets, valued at £882m.

Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions won multiple awards at the Commercial Fleet Awards 2017, including Van/Truck Contract Hire and Leasing Company of the Year, Van/ Truck Fleet Management Company of the Year and Customer Partnership Initiative of the Year.

Robert Gordon, CEO of Hitachi Capital (UK), said: “These are a strong set of results and are testament to the hard work and dedication of our teams throughout the UK and Europe.

“Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC is now ranked among the fastest growing financial services firms in terms of sales growth, while our profitability makes us one of the top performers not only in the industry but also when compared to some of the UK’s biggest and most well-known companies.

“It’s particularly pleasing to demonstrate consistent, long-term growth within a challenging and competitive sector, and against a backdrop of general economic uncertainty.

“The processes, systems and strategies we’ve put in place provide a solid foundation for continued growth in the years to come.”

Jon Lawes (pictured), managing director of Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, added: “The vehicle sector is going through a period of unprecedented change, with new technologies, environmental legislation and changes to vehicle tax making the role of fleet managers more complex.

“Understanding this changing landscape and focussing on the future needs of the market is essential and over the past year, we have made significant investments in IT to ensure that we continue to deliver a market-leading customer experience.”  

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