BADEN-BADEN (dpa-AFX) - Leasing specialist Grenke continued to leave the difficult Corona period behind in the second quarter. However, in view of the tarnished global economy, darker clouds are once again gathering. The company surprisingly lowered its targets for 2024 the previous evening, but the board justified the move not only with new economic forecasts, but also with a focus on "balanced margins." Although Grenke sees itself on track for the current year, the negative reaction of the stock market was nevertheless prompt: the share slumped on Thursday morning.

The stock, which is listed in the SDax small cap index, lost nine percent at times in the morning, falling to its lowest level since the end of March - the recovery of the past five trading days was thus also completely wiped out. The most recent loss was seven percent.

The share price is now back on the general downward trend that began at the beginning of May after the high for the year to date of 32.65 euros; since then, the price has lost a good quarter of its value. Over a three-year period, it has even accumulated a loss of two-thirds. By contrast, investors who joined the company during the weak phase around the turn of the year are still sitting on a gain of almost 24 percent.

In a commentary, analysts at Pareto Securities spoke of good quarterly figures for the group, but said the lowering of the 2024 targets was a negative surprise, "even though we didn't expect the company to reach its old guidance." For Marius Fuhrberg of Warburg Bank, the early timing of the forecast reduction stands out in particular, but he considers the targets to be feasible overall.

Grenke is now aiming for new leasing business of 3.0 to 3.2 billion euros for the coming year instead of around 3.4 billion, the group announced in Baden-Baden on Wednesday. This would correspond to growth of 11 to 19 percent compared to average market expectations for 2023, it said, adding that consolidated earnings in 2024 are also likely to remain below the previous expectation of around 120 million euros at 95 to 115 million euros.

At present, Grenke reportedly sees itself continuing on its recovery course. The forecast for the current fiscal year 2023 remains unchanged at 2.6 to 2.8 billion euros for new leasing business and 80 to 90 million euros for consolidated earnings, it said.

In the second quarter, operating income across the Group increased by 11.4 percent to 109.2 million euros. Group profit also grew significantly by 17.3 percent to 24.5 million euros, it said. Earnings per share were 0.55 euros, up from 0.46 euros a year earlier.

"We are on the right track," said Group CEO Sebastian Hirsch, according to the statement. After two years, he said, the Corona dip in new business had been all but overcome and the 2019 level had almost been reached again. In the second quarter, new business increased by 9.4 percent to 866.7 million euros. Leasing saw particularly strong growth, but Grenke also made gains in factoring. In contrast, Grenke Bank reported losses in new business.

"We have interest rates and inflation under control," Hirsch emphasized. He added that Grenke wanted to continue to grow at a double-digit rate, thus outpacing the market and gaining market share. However, profitable and balanced business with solid margins now counts first and foremost, Hirsch added. Grenke will also increase efficiency in the next twelve months, not only through digitalization, but also with "tight cost management".

In his view, over one million current leasing contracts with a volume of 9.2 billion euros (PY: 8.7) will be the source of earnings in the future. In particular, the continued positive development of the operating margin of the so-called contribution margin 2 in the second quarter with 16.9 percent after 16.7 percent in the previous quarter will have a positive impact on the Group's earnings, the statement continued. At the beginning of July, the Group had already presented key data for the second quarter./tav/jha/lew/jha/