A long-term investor
Wendel is a hands-on investor and shareholder that assists sector-leading companies in their long-term development. Wendel's business model combines the entrepreneurial passion born of a long family tradition with a culture of performance and accountability.
Parcours
Long-term vehicle leasing
PARCOURS EXPANDS BY OFFERING SERVICES THAT SET IT APART
PARCOURS IN BRIEF
Why did we invest in Parcours?
Parcours, created in 1989 by its current chief executive, is the only independent player of a significant size operating in the long-term car leasing sector in France. It is a fast-growing challenger of the industry’s heavyweights - subsidiaries of the carmakers and the banks - subsidiaries and has positioned itself at the crossroads of financial services, business services and the automobile industry. Parcours has achieved exceptional growth (18% on average for the past ten years) and showed strong resilience during the recent recession. With its fleet of 44,900 vehicles, Parcours operates in France through its differentiating network of 18 branches and has also been replicating its business model internationally since 2005, with five locations in other European countries (Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and Portugal). The group also has specific strategic strengths:
• a skilled, experienced management team with a strong service culture;
• a unique and differentiating range of services based on its integrated “3D” business model: new vehicle leasing, maintenance & repair and resale of used vehicles.
• growth accelerated by an increase in market share attributable to its strong positioning and the satisfaction of its customers;
• regional coverage allowing Parcours to meet the needs of large national clients;
• a unique and effective business model for used vehicle sales to individuals.
These combined strengths will enable Parcours to gain more market share while furthering its international expansion and continuing to outpace the long-term leasing market’s annual 6% growth.
Highlights of 2011
Parcours reported sales of €271.4 million in 2011, up 12% compared with 2010. Over the year, Parcours’ fleet of vehicles expanded by 8.8% (from 41,280 to 44,900), faster than that of the industry in France (2.6%). After advancing at a rate of 13.8% in the first half of the year, sales growth tapered off in the second half to 8.5%, in part because vehicle deliveries were delayed due to the Fukushima catastrophe and the impact it had on car makers. As of the end of December 2011, Parcours’ portfolio of non-delivered orders amounted to more than 3,700 vehicles, up 14.3% compared with December 2010. Pre-tax ordinary income rose 3% to 17.1 million in 2011, representing a margin of 6.3% of sales.
Outlook for development
Parcours intends to base its expansion on the growing demand from business customers for utsourced fleet management and increasingly sophisticated services. The group will continue to move all of its branches in France to the “3D” model and accelerate its business internationally. In the medium term, Parcours is ideally positioned to capture major trends such as the growing penetration of the long-term vehicle leasing market in France as well as in countries where the group is establishing a foothold.
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