Sixt records significant revenue and earnings improvement after the first nine months of 2014

• With consistently high demand consolidated operating revenue climbs 9.2% over course of the year
• Third quarter business performance exceeds Company's own expectations
• Group earnings before taxes (EBT) for period January to September up by 14.8% to EUR 131.1 million
• Substantial revenue and earnings improvement also expected for full fiscal year 2014

Mumbai, November 24, 2014 – After the first nine months of the year Sixt revenue and earnings are on a clear growth track. The international mobility service provider increased its consolidated operating revenue by 9.2% year-on-year to EUR 1.23 billion. Total Group revenue climbed 7.4% to EUR 1.34 billion. Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) for the period January to September increased 14.8% to EUR 131.1 million. The third quarter business performance exceeded even the Company's own expectations. Both Business Units, Vehicle Rental and Leasing, contributed towards improved revenue and earnings. In view of the encouraging business performance the Managing Board now projects consolidated operating revenue and Group EBT for the full year 2014 to be substantially above the corresponding figures of last year.

Erich Sixt, Chairman of the Managing Board of Sixt SE: "The first nine months figures demonstrate that Sixt is in excellent shape. We did not expect such strong demand in the third quarter, especially not the level recorded in Germany, given that general economic conditions are cooling. It is very positive for Sixt to outperform the markets and thereby continually gain market shares. We are equally upbeat for the remainder of the year, even though we have to keep watching the latest economic downturn in Europe very carefully."

Group performance in the first nine months of 2014

• Consolidated operating revenue (excluding revenue from the sale of used leasing vehicles) climbed 9.2% from EUR 1.13 billion to EUR 1.23 billion. 35.9% of revenues were generated abroad (9M 2013: 34.5%).
• Rental revenues were up 10.0% to EUR 845.2 million after EUR 768.3 million in the same period last year. Sixt registered growth, both at home in Germany (+5.1%), where the Company is by far the biggest vehicle rental company, as well as the markets outside Germany (+16.8%).
• Leasing revenue climbed by 6.0% to EUR 310.5 million (9M 2013: EUR 292.9 million). The Leasing Business Unit benefited from the ongoing growth of its contract portfolio.
• Group total revenue rose 7.4% to EUR 1.34 billion (9M 2013: EUR 1.25 billion).
• Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT), the Group’s key earnings indicator, show a profit of
  EUR 131.1 million for the first nine months or some 14.8% more than for the same period last year
  (EUR 114.2 million). Expressed in relation to consolidated operating revenue this amounts to a return on sales of 10.6% (9M 2013: 10.1%).

All of these encouraging earnings developments are essentially due to the following factors:

• Significantly higher demand in vehicle rental due to greater sales efforts and friendly business climate during the first half of the year

• Targeted expansion measures in the European countries outside of Germany and in the USA

• Cautious fleet planning under tight cost management.

    Group developments in the third quarter of 2014

• Consolidated operating revenue in the third quarter of 2014 increased by 10.4% to EUR 474.6 million, after EUR 429.8 million in the same quarter of 2013.
• Rental revenues grew by 10.3%, climbing to EUR 337.5 million (Q3 2013: EUR 306.1 million).
• Leasing revenues increased by 8.3% to EUR 105.6 million (Q3 2013: EUR 97.5 million).
• Consolidated revenues rose 9.6% to EUR 515.6 million (Q3 2013: EUR 470.5 million).
• For the third quarter Sixt reports EBT of EUR 63.6 million. This means that last year's figure of EUR 56.3 million, which was already very strong, was once more outperformed by 12.9%.

Higher investments in the rental and leasing fleet 

Given good demand, Sixt carefully expanded its vehicle fleet over the course of the year. Over the first nine months the Group added around 132,200 vehicles to the rental and leasing fleet (9M 2013: 121,500 vehicles) with a total value of EUR 3.31 billion (9M 2013: EUR 3.04 billion). This equals 9% more in the number of vehicles as well as the volume of investments. Sixt continues to expect the volume of investments for the full-year 2014 to be higher than last year (EUR 3.87 billion). 

Continued strong equity basis 

At the end of September 2014 Sixt Group's equity came to EUR 727.6 million and thereby was EUR 52.1 million more than at the end of 2013 (EUR 675.5 million). At 24.2% the equity ratio continues to be a top rating in the rental and leasing industry (31 December 2013: 28.5%).

Outlook for the whole of 2014

Following the good development of the Group over the first nine months of the current year, Sixt upholds its expectations for business performance to continue positively. Nonetheless, the Managing Board expects further increases in fleet costs and other operating expenses in the Vehicle Rental Business Unit. As in the previous year, 2014 will see further costs being incurred for important strategic growth initiatives.

Account must also be taken of the fact that the economic outlook for 2014 and 2015 has darkened lately for Sixt's core countries of Western Europe, especially in Germany, given the numerous geopolitical crises such as the Ukraine conflict or the tensions in the Near and Middle East.
For the full fiscal year of 2014, the Managing Board forecasts an increase in consolidated operating revenues, which it expects to be in the higher single-digit percentage range compared to last year. Growth stimulus should continue to come primarily from the markets abroad. Based on a continually demand-driven and cautious fleet policy as well as tight cost management, the Group's EBT is expected to grow substantially in 2014.

Developments in the operating business units Vehicle rental

Sixt is represented through its subsidiaries in the core European countries of Germany, France, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Monaco (Sixt-Corporate countries) and thus covers the largest part of the European market, making it one of the continent's leading vehicle rental companies. Alongside these, Sixt has been operating in the USA since 2011. In many other European and non-European countries, the Company is additionally represented by franchise and cooperation partners (Sixt-Franchise countries).

The premium carsharing joint venture DriveNow, which Sixt is operating together with BMW, remains on growth track and meanwhile has over 350,000 registered users. Since October DriveNow has now also been available in Vienna. Meanwhile, myDriver, the chauffeur service at taxi price level, which Sixt launched in March 2013, has conducted almost 150,000 trips making it the market leader in Germany in the market segment for alternatives to taxis.

During the first nine months of 2014 the Vehicle Rental Business Unit generated rental revenue of EUR 845.2 million, a gain of 10.0% on the same figure from the previous year's period. In Germany rental revenues grew by 5.1%. Abroad, Sixt benefited from the targeted expansion measures and generated an increase in revenue of 16.8%. After nine months the total revenue for the Business Unit increased 10.3% to EUR 924.3 million (9M 2013: EUR 837.6 million). Compared with revenues, EBT registered an above-average growth of 12.9% to EUR 118.2 million (9M2013: EUR 104.7 million).

Leasing Sixt is one of the largest non-bank, vendor-neutral leasing companies in Germany and is additionally represented through subsidiaries in France, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands. The focus of business activities is on fleet management and full-service leasing for corporate and business clients. This covers a wealth of further services alongside the classic finance function.
After the first nine months the portfolio of contracts as at the end of September was 97,600, a gain of 28% compared to the number of contracts at the end of 2013 (76,200). Fleet management and private clients remain the growth drivers for this performance.Leasing revenue rose 6.0% during the first nine months to EUR 310.5 million (9M 2013: EUR 292.9 million). Including the revenue from the sale of used leasing vehicles, which is usually subject to fluctuations, the Business Unit generated revenues of EUR 411.3 million (9M 2013: EUR 406.1 million; +1.3%). EBT for the first three quarters improved by 11.5% to EUR 15.7 million, after EUR 14.1 million over the same period last year.

About Sixt:

Sixt rent - a- car is represented in over 100 countries worldwide and is expanding its presence continuously.  Their strengths, such as the high proportion of premium brands in the vehicle fleet, the consistent service orientation of the staff and the good price-performance ratio allows the company founded in 1912 an excellent market positioning. The company has partnerships with prestigious addresses in the hotel industry, major airlines and numerous well-known service providers in the tourism sector. 

COMBINED DEFENCE SERVICES EXAMINATION (I), 2014

NOVEMBER 24, 2014

The following are the lists, in order of merit of  238 candidates who have qualified on the basis of the results of the Combined Defence Services Examination (I)-2014 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission in February, 2014 and SSB interviews held by the Services Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence for admission to the 138th  Course of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun;  Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala  and Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course i.e. 197th  F(P) Course.

There are some common candidates in the three lists for various courses.

The number of vacancies, as intimated by the Government is 250 for Indian Military Academy [including 32 vacancies reserved for NCC ‘C’ Certificate (Army Wing) holders], 40 for Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala -  [ Hydro/ Executive General Service] including 06 vacancies reserved  for NCC ‘C’ Certificate (Naval Wing) holders] and 32 for Air Force Academy, Hyderabad.

The Commission had recommended 5480, 2855 and 614 as qualified in the written test for admission to the Indian Military Academy/ Indian Naval Academy  and Air Force Academy respectively. The number of candidates finally qualified are those after SSB testing conducted by Army Head Quarters.

The results of Medical examination have not been taken into account in preparing these lists.

Verification of date of birth and educational qualifications of these candidates is still under process by the Army Headquarters.  The candidature of all these candidates is, therefore, Provisional on this score.  Candidates are requested to forward their certificates, in original,  in support of Date of Birth/Educational  qualification etc., certificates claimed by them, along with Photostat attested copies thereof to Army Headquarters/Naval Headquarters/Air Headquarters, as per their first choice.

In case, there is any change of address, the candidates are advised to promptly intimate directly to the Army Headquarters/Naval Headquarters/Air Headquarters.

These  results will also be available on the UPSC website at http.//www.upsc.gov.in   However, marks of the candidates will be available on the website after completion of its complete process  i.e. after  declaration of final result of Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) for Combined Defence Services Examination (I)-2014.

For any further information, the candidates may contact  Facilitation Counter near Gate ‘C’  of the Commission’s Office, either in the person or on Telephone Nos. 011-23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 between 10:00 Hours & 17:00 Hrs. on any working days.

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Thapar University and Trinity College Dublin Announce Future Institutional Collaboration

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November 24^th, 2014 – Trinity College Dublin and Thapar University announced their intention to develop an institutional partnership at a special event in New Delhi today. The future partnership will promote academic collaboration in the key areas of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, research, and student and staff mobility.  This collaboration is a central component of a major contemporisation programme that Thapar University is undertaking. It will also significantly contribute to Trinity College Dublin’s global engagement in attracting high calibre students.

This commitment follows exploratory high level discussions and visits by both institutions and a successful academic review in early November, 2014, by Trinity College Dublin of four Thapar University departments: Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

Trinity professors from Engineering (Civil, Electronic and Mechanical) and Computer Science and Statistics as well as the Academic Secretary formed part of the delegation and fully endorsed Thapar University’ s contemporisation programme.

The Trinity College review team found much to commend at Thapar University and looks forward to working collaboratively with Thapar staff and management to build on existing strengths and potential.  The report of the review team recommended a number of changes which, when implemented, the team felt would significantly enhance Thapar University’s standing as both a teaching and research university of international consequence. Thapar University’s well established reputation within India, together with the outstanding academic ability of its undergraduate students and good quality undergraduate programmes, provides a very strong platform for this collaboration.

Mr. Gautam Thapar, President, Thapar University stated “we value our partnerships. This partnership   will help address and bolster Thapar University’s position as a leading centre for higher education in India and in the region. We are pleased to have Trinity College Dublin’s support as we fulfil our mission of offering global standards in our deliverables at Thapar University and uphold the internationalization of higher education in the country”.

This future collaboration will explore the development of the award of twin, joint and dual degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate levels; student mobility and exchange; staff mobility; research collaboration.

Thapar University’s contemporisation programme will be strengthened from the experience and international reputation of Trinity College Dublin, its thriving international research output, its teaching-research culture, and its success in building research and innovation partnerships with national and international companies and industry.

Trinity College Dublin will benefit from collaborating with an Indian university such as Thapar University that has an ambition to be a global leader in its field. It will encourage joint research between the two institutions in areas of strength and opportunities for international mobility for faculty and students.

Speaking at the announcement event, the President & Provost of Trinity College Dublin,Dr Patrick Prendergast said: “As part of Trinity College Dublin’s global engagement it attracts students and staff of the highest calibre and promotes mobility among our staff with partnering international institutions. This is enabled by the development of strategic partnerships and joint partnership degree programmes with institutions globally. Today’s statement of intent with Thapar University is an important step in achieving this and we look forward to developing an agreement that will set out a process of collaboration.”

Commenting on what is a   landmark moment in Thapar University’s continuous quest for excellence, Mr. R.R. Vederah, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Thapar University remarked, ‘’we value Trinity College Dublin  as a partner and look forward to a rewarding collaboration. Trinity College Dublin is one of the world’s oldest universities- over 400 years old. Its cutting edge research, technology and innovation place the university at the forefront of higher education globally. This significant  comtemporisation initiative between TCD and TU promises to transform the education landscape in India and is in keeping with the trend of educational institutions coming together to forge global linkages and benefit their students, the leaders of tomorrow’’.

About Trinity College Dublin

Trinity College Dublin www.tcd.ie holds a global position as one of the leading universities in the world. Established in 1592, it is consistently ranked in the top 100 world universities by the QS World University Rankings, and is the highest ranking university in Ireland. Cutting edge research, technology and innovation places the university at the forefront of higher education in Ireland and globally.

It is located on a 19 hectare campus in the centre of Dublin city.  Its historic buildings are located alongside modern award-winning architecture of more recent generations. Trinity College Dublin has many great alumni, many of whom have helped shape the history of the world.  Nobel prize winners such as Ernest Walton for physics and Samuel Beckett for literature; great writers such as Jonathan Swift and Oscar Wilde; famous philosophers such as Edmund Burke and George Berkeley; renowned mathematician William Rowan Hamilton; and Presidents of Ireland, Douglas Hyde and Mary Robinson.  Today, Trinity alumni can be found in every sphere of society and are innovators in their fields, leaders in their communities and ambassadors for excellence all around the world.

Trinity College Dublin encompasses all major academic disciplines, and is committed to world-class teaching and research across the range of disciplines in the arts, humanities, engineering, science, social and health sciences.

It is Ireland’s leading university across all international rankings, and is ranked 71st place worldwide and in the top 25 in Europe in the recent QS World University Rankings 2014.

Trinity College Dublin’s Links with India

Trinity College Dublin has important research links and academic collaborations with a number of key Indian Higher Education Institutions. Building on longstanding work with institutions like Delhi University, the National Centre for Biological Science and the Indian Institute of Science, Trinity now has an extensive network of partnerships across India in all disciplines – from Neuroscience to Digital Humanities. A Delhi office was opened in 2012, facilitating more than 20 major Trinity missions in the past three years, in addition to hundreds of smaller academic engagements in India and regular visits by Indian academics to the TCD campus. Trinity leads the Irish Government’s Science Foundation Ireland-funded International Strategic Cooperation Award Programme for India, which works to strengthen exchange of research expertise between the two countries. With the announcement in November 2014 of Karnataka State Government funding for Science Gallery Bangalore to join the Science Gallery Network, along with Trinity College Dublin, the university’s presence in India is further cemented.

The number of Indian students joining Trinity College Dublin is increasing annually. The Trinity Indian Society, founded in 2009, is one of the fastest growing societies on campus, with Holi and Diwali celebrations now being enjoyed by the entire college community.

Trinity College Dublin’s strong ties with India reach back to the establishment of the chair of Oriental Languages in 1762. By the mid-nineteenth century not only were classical languages such as Sanskrit being taught at Trinity, but also numerous regional languages, not to mention courses in Indian law and history. In the second half of the nineteenth century, over 150 Trinity graduates entered the Indian Civil Service, trained at Trinity’s Indian Civil Service School. Among these was Trinity mathematician George Grierson, whose famous Linguistic Survey of India catalogued 364 Indian languages and dialects for the first time.

About Thapar University

Ranked among India’s leading institutions of engineering education, Thapar University in Patiala, Punjab has redefined technical education in the country through dissemination and application of actionable engineering knowledge. A steady source of highly skilled manpower to top Indian and overseas corporates, the sprawling 250-acre Thapar Technology campus, consisting of Thapar University, Thapar Polytechnic and Thapar Centre for Industrial Research and Development (TCIRD), has an extraordinary potential for development of indigenous technology and its transfer to engineering industries.

Standing tall on the four pillars of cutting-edge research capabilities, highly accomplished faculty, enviable infrastructure and smart academia-industry linkages, the 58-year-old university continually reinvents itself by upgrading its curriculum to match global needs through periodic self-assessment and formal reviews. One of the eight institutes selected by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for setting up a Centre of Relevance and Excellence, Thapar University sets a new benchmark in technical education with each passing day.

The university’s Science and Technology Entrepreneur’s Park, which was established as a joint venture between the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, the Union Department of Science and Technology and Thapar University (TU) in April 2005, is a centre for business incubation that is playing the role of a catalyst in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector by tapping new business opportunities through commercialisation and transfer of technology.

Set up in 2007, the university’s business school, LM Thapar School of Management (LMTSM), has evolved over the years to provide management education conducive to the dynamic business environment. LMTSM is committed to architecting a new business world order, where what is good for corporations will be good for all stakeholders. True to its motto “New India starts here”, LMTSM seeks to develop a new Indian business model grounded in the ethos of sustainability and inclusiveness.

Over the years, Thapar University has grown by leaps and bounds as a research-based university with focus on sunrise areas like nanotechnology, biotechnology and IT. Signifying a pioneering corporate effort to strengthen research, the TCIRD has been facilitating a dynamic interface with the academia and national and international R&D laboratories.

Driven by the conviction that original research—applied, industrial, technological and scientific—has to be the backbone of engineering education, the university has published over 2,500 research papers in peer-reviewed impact factor journals in the past five years alone. It has 119 ongoing research projects under its belt with a sanctioned grant of Rs 25.72 crore. Engaged in high-end research, the faculty of the university have so far filed 19 patents. Many of them are working on research projects sponsored by the industry.

Backed by the Avantha group, one of India’s most diversified conglomerates, Thapar University also rates high on infrastructure with its campus home to some of India’s best automation, automobile engineering, metrology, sand testing and solid mechanics facilities. Another feather in its cap is its Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Laboratory, a central facility to carry out high-end testing, consultancy and research. Recognised as an Environmental Laboratory by the Ministry of Environment, Government of India, this lab is the only one in north-western India that has the swirl testing facility for combustion engines.

Aspiring to become a globally acclaimed university, Thapar University is in sync with the ever-evolving global trends in technical education through MoUs with various foreign universities. These MoUs have given students much-needed global exposure through the best of exchange programmes and collaborative research initiatives. Thanks to strong academia-industry linkages, many leading corporates are now a regular feature at Thapar University placements, a glowing testimony to the university’s reputation as a top-notch technical institute. Both reputed Indian and international companies are associated with Thapar University for research as well as faculty exchange programmes.