Europcar has posted a healthy set of interim results with annual revenue up by more than 17 per cent, buoyed by the car rental company’s acquisition of the Europcar Asia Pacific franchise in May 2008.
Revenues for the first six months of 2008 were €987.9 million, a 17.4 per cent increase based on the comparable period.Europcar Australasia group marketing manager Ashley Jurberg said the positive result was a reflection of Europcar’s successful organic growth.

He said: “The Europcar business is the main contributor to consolidated revenues. The outstanding results for the first half of 2008 reflect on the one hand the organic growth of the business and on the other, the positive financial impact of Eurazeo’s acquisition of PremierFirst in February 2007, Betacar in the third quarter of 2007 and the Europcar Asia Pacific franchise in May this year.”

He added that all the countries in which Europcar had direct operations contributed to revenue growth with the strength of each performance varying according to the economic environment of each country.

“Europcar Australasia is the third largest vehicle-hire operator in Australia and one of the largest in New Zealand,” he said. “The company has strong brand recognition and continues to aggressively grow its business throughout the region which made the acquisition of the Europcar Asia Pacific franchise a well-placed strategic move for Europcar International’s organic growth.”

Europcar has gone from strength to strength in the past few years with the 2008 half-yearly results enhancing the business’s impressive fiscal record.

In 2007 Europcar Australasia managed more than two million rental days generating AUD $123 million in revenue, an increase of 18 per cent from 2006.
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