grenke new leasing business rises 10.6% in Q1 2025

grenke AG, a global financing partner for small and medium-sized enterprises, reported a strong start to the 2025 financial year, underpinned by solid growth in its core leasing business and significant gains in profitability. The company’s leasing new business rose 10.6% year-on-year in Q1 2025 to €740.6 million, up from €669.8 million in the same quarter last year.

A standout metric was Contribution Margin 2 (CM2), which surged 15.6% to €130.3 million (Q1 2024: €112.7 million), pushing the CM2 margin up to 17.6%, compared to 16.8% a year ago. This puts grenke firmly on track to meet its annual profitability targets for 2025.

“Our new business is progressing according to plan,” said Dr. Sebastian Hirsch, CEO of grenke AG. “The current figures reaffirm our focus on margins and, consequently, profitability – an approach that will benefit our future earnings.”

Dr. Hirsch also confirmed a major strategic step forward with the planned divestment of the company’s factoring business.

Grenke’s factoring business, which recorded a Q1 2025 volume of €194.7 million, is now held for sale. The signed agreement with Teylor AG will see a phased transfer of subsidiaries, with three of the seven expected to change hands in 2025. The full transaction is slated for completion by mid-2026. The company does not anticipate significant financial impact on its 2025 income statement from the transaction.

Dr. Martin Paal, CFO of grenke AG, expressed confidence in the transition of the factoring business to Teylor AG: “With Teylor AG, we have found a buyer for our factoring business who we believe has a compelling growth concept. We aim to start implementing the transaction immediately after the signing of the agreement and will closely and actively accompany the process of gradually transferring the individual local subsidiaries.”

Growth was widespread across grenke’s portfolio. IT equipment – primarily laptops, devices, and software – remained the most in-demand asset category, accounting for 29.3% of contracts signed.

Direct sales played a larger role, climbing to 17.3% of leasing new business (Q1 2024: 15.5%), particularly driven by strong performance in the DACH region. The company processed around 171,000 lease applications, converting approximately 76,000 into contracts – a 44.5% conversion rate, with the average ticket size increasing to €9,734.

Western Europe, excluding the DACH countries, maintained its position as grenke’s strongest market, contributing €200.9 million in leasing new business – a 7.2% rise. France alone accounted for 21.3% of total leasing volume. Southern Europe followed, growing 5.7% to €176.8 million, led by Italy with a 13.9% share. The DACH region posted the highest growth rate at 20.6%, with Germany accounting for 18.9% of the global total.

Northern and Eastern Europe grew by 7.4% to €145.0 million, while grenke’s “other regions” – including the US, Canada, and Australia – recorded the strongest growth at 22.5%, with a new business volume of €50.8 million.

grenke Bank’s deposit business also posted a healthy 6.6% increase, rising to €2,377.7 million as of March 31, 2025. The bank’s microcredit lending new business reached €11.3 million, up from €8.7 million in Q1 2024.