Element reports 40% hike in originations

Element Fleet Management Corporation, a leading fleet-focused business services provider, has reported a 40% rise in originations for 2016, which totaled $6.6 billion compared with $4.7 billion in the previous year.

Bradley Nullmeyer, Element Fleet Management’s chief executive officer, said: “This was a year of transformation for Element. We successfully completed the separation announced in February 2016 and created a global fleet-focused business services provider, with a balance sheet, technology platform and suite of products to strengthen our leadership position and accelerate our growth further.”

Integration challenge

Since 2012, Element has acquired four major players in the fleet management industry, and now bills itself the world’s largest publicly traded fleet management company, having made what it described as a “major leap” in completing the integration of its milestone acquisitions.

Daniel Jauernig, Element’s president and chief operating officer, said: “With integration largely complete and a very successful migration of all our customers onto Xcelerate, in 2017 we will demonstrate the full potential of our new platform to deliver unmatched value for our customers and drive continued growth in our business.”

Key financial highlights for the year included after-tax adjusted operating income of $421.4 million. Service and other revenue grew by 96% to $513.7 million and represented 55% of total revenue compared with 49% in the previous year.

Samir Zabaneh, Element’s chief financial officer, said: “Element delivered solid financial results in 2016 while also successfully achieving all of its strategic objectives. Performance during the year was predictably impacted by some one-time costs related to the integration and separation, and these are largely behind us.

“As Element’s operations continue to normalize, among our priorities for 2017 is to revise our key performance indicators to reflect our transition to a fleet-focused business services provider.”