• Group earnings increase to EUR 15.5 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with EUR 10.2 million in the same prior-year quarter 
• Leasing new business grows 4.2% to EUR 786.4 million (Q1 2025: EUR 754.6 million)
• Operating result before settlement of claims and risk provision improves by 20.8%
• Loss rate remains elevated at 1.9% (Q1 2025: 1.9%)

Baden-Baden, May 13, 2026: grenke AG, a specialist in small-ticket leasing, generated Group earnings of EUR 15.5 million in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1 2025: EUR 10.2 million). These results were largely driven by the strong growth in income from operating business, which increased 10.2 percent to EUR 170.8 million (Q1 2025: EUR 155.0 million), while costs rose by only 2.2 percent to EUR 89.9 million (Q1 2025: EUR 88.0 million). This resulted in an improvement in the cost-income ratio to 52.6 percent (Q1 2025: 56.8 percent). Due to the continued challenging macroeconomic environment and persistently high insolvency levels, the loss rate remained elevated at 1.9 percent in the first quarter (Q1 2025: 1.9 percent).

Leasing new business in the first quarter of 2026 grew 4.2 percent year-on-year to EUR 786.4 million (Q1 2025: EUR 754.6 million). At 16.1 percent, the CM2 margin increased again to over 16 percent, in line with expectations, compared with 15.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025. Compared with the same prior-year quarter, the CM2 margin normalised again after the exceptionally high level recorded in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025: 17.5 percent), which had been driven by positive interest rate effects. This normalisation also reflects the fact that the higher expected default rates arising from current global crises have since been priced into the CM2 margin. The resulting contribution margin 2 (CM2), a key indicator of profitability, amounted to EUR 126.8 million, as expected (Q1 2025: EUR 132.1 million).

Dr Sebastian Hirsch, CEO of grenke AG: “We have shown that we are able to manage our business agilely and profitably, even in a challenging environment. We remain on track to achieve our targets for the current financial year.”

Dr Martin Paal, CFO of grenke AG: “Our cost discipline is delivering results. Based on significantly slower cost growth, we improved our cost-income ratio and increased our operating result before
settlement of claims and risk provision by more than 20 percent.”

Growth in leasing new business driven primarily by the core markets Germany, France and Italy
grenke’s largest leasing markets – Germany, France and Italy – realised a cumulative increase in leasing new business of 6.7 percent to EUR 442.6 million (Q1 2025: EUR 414.9 million). Spain and the United Kingdom also ranked among the top five countries measured by contracted leasing new business volume. Together, these five countries continued to account for around 66 percent of the grenke Group’s total leasing new business in the first quarter of 2026, largely unchanged from the prior-year period (Q1 2025: around 65 percent).

Western Europe (without DACH) remained the strongest region by volume, with leasing new business increasing by 4.7 percent to EUR 210.2 million (Q1 2025: EUR 200.9 million). This was followed by Southern Europe, which recorded leasing new business growth of 6.1 percent to EUR 202.4 million (Q1 2025: EUR 190.8 million). The DACH region achieved growth of 11.0 percent to EUR 185.5 million (Q1 2025: EUR 167.2 million). Other regions recorded growth of 10.8 percent to EUR 56.3 million (Q1 2025: EUR 50.8 million). Only the Northern/Eastern Europe region reported a decline, with leasing new business decreasing to EUR 132.0 million (Q1 2025: EUR 145.0 million). This decline resulted primarily from the expiry of eBike subsidies in Finland in the second half of 2025, leading to a high prior-year quarter comparative base, as well as from the targeted management measures in Denmark and Sweden and generally cautious investment decisions by customers in light of the broader geopolitical environment. The solid growth achieved in other regions fully offset the effects in Northern/Eastern Europe, resulting in an overall increase in grenke’s leasing new business of 4.2 percent to EUR 786.4 million (Q1 2025: EUR 754.6 million).

Measured by the number of concluded contracts, at 29.4 percent, IT devices, primarily comprising laptops, IT equipment and software, remained the largest lease object category in the first quarter. The share of direct customer business in total leasing new business increased to 18.9 percent in the first quarter (Q1 2025: 17.3 percent). At around 175,000, the number of lease applications was slightly above the prior-year level (Q1 2025: around 172,000), reflecting the uncertainty among customers driven by the current macroeconomic environment. Around 79,000 new lease contracts were concluded in the first quarter (Q1 2025: around 76,000). At 45.1 percent, the conversion rate remained within the customary business range (Q1 2025: 44.4 percent). The average ticket size in the first quarter of 2026 amounted to EUR 9,984 (Q1 2025: EUR 9,886).

Income from operating business records strong growth while cost growth remains moderate
Driven by the strong leasing new business generated in recent years, interest income increased significantly year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, rising EUR 17.8 million to EUR 177.6 million (Q1 2025: EUR 159.8 million). At the same time, interest expense related to the refinancing of the leasing business increased by EUR 10.9 million to EUR 70.9 million (Q1 2025: EUR 60.0 million). This resulted in an improvement of 6.9 percent in net interest income (the net difference between interest income and interest expenses) to EUR 106.7 million (Q1 2025: EUR 99.8 million).

Supported by this net interest income growth as well as the increase in profit from new business and profit from service business, income from operating business increased by EUR 15.8 million to EUR 170.8 million (Q1 2025: EUR 155.0 million). At the same time, operating costs increased by only EUR 1.9 million year-on-year to EUR 89.9 million (Q1 2025: EUR 88.0 million), of which EUR 54.0 million related to staff costs (Q1 2025: EUR 51.9 million). This is a reflection of better operating efficiency and continued cost discipline. As a result, the cost-income ratio improved to 52.6 percent (Q1 2025: 56.8 percent), in line with expectations for the 2026 financial year. The average number of employees in the grenke Group, based on full-time equivalents, increased as planned by 2.9 percent to 2,362 (Q1 2025: 2,296).

As a result of the positive earnings development and disciplined cost management, the operating result before settlement of claims and risk provision increased sharply in the first quarter of 2026 by 20.8 percent to EUR 80.9 million (Q1 2025: EUR 67.0 million).

Amid the persistently high number of defaults and insolvencies resulting from the challenging macroeconomic environment, the result from the settlement of claims and risk provision remained at an elevated level of EUR -56.7 million in the first quarter (Q1 2025: EUR -47.6 million). The loss rate (expenses for the settlement of claims and risk provision in relation to leasing volume) remained stable at 1.9 percent during the first three months of 2026 (Q1 2025: 1.9 percent). The operating result thereby increased significantly to EUR 21.4 million (Q1 2025: EUR 14.0 million).

Group earnings increased by EUR 5.3 million, in line with expectations, to EUR 15.5 million (Q1 2025: EUR 10.2 million). As a result, return on equity (RoE) after taxes improved to 4.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 3.1 percent in the same prior-year quarter.

Refinancing base secured to support leasing new business growth
An additional EUR 500 million bond was successfully issued during the first quarter, further strengthening the Group’s liquidity position. Alongside capital market refinancing, the grenke Bank’s deposit business, receivables-based refinancing through asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) programmes, and external bank funding provide a solid refinancing base to support our future leasing new business growth ambitions.

Lease receivables continue to grow alongside improved capital efficiency
Supported by the continued growth in leasing new business, lease receivables increased to EUR 7.5 billion as of March 31, 2026 (December 31, 2025: EUR 7.3 billion). The equity ratio equalled 15.2 percent as of March 31, 2026 (December 31, 2025: 15.6 percent), thereby remaining in line with expectations of around 15 percent.

2026 guidance unchanged
For the 2026 financial year, grenke continues to expect Group earnings in the range of EUR 74 million to EUR 86 million, accompanied by leasing new business volume of EUR 3.4 billion to EUR 3.6 billion. The Group’s key focus in the years ahead remains profitability, with a targeted return on equity (RoE) after taxes of 10 percent by 2030.

 

Key figures at a glance (in EUR millions)

  Q1 2026 Q1 2025 ∆ in % Leasing new business 786.4 754.6 4.2 CM2 margin of leasing new business in % 16.1 17.5 -1.4 pp Group earnings 15.5 10.2 52.4 Earnings per share in euros 0.03 -0.02 > 100 Cost-income ratio in % 52.6 56.8 -4.2 pp Loss rate in % 1.9 1.9 0.0 pp RoE after taxes in % 4.4 3.1 1.3 pp Average number of employees in full-time equivalents (FTEs) 2,362 2,296 2.9

 

	Mar. 31, 2026	Dec. 31, 2025	∆ in %
Equity ratio in %	15.2	15.6	-0.4 pp

_{Note: Rounding differences may occur in individual figures compared to the actual EUR amounts.}

The Q1 2026 quarterly statement is available on our website at Reports & Presentations.

All dates relating to the 2026 financial year are available on the website under the section Financial calendar.

About grenke
For nearly 50 years, grenke has been a global specialist and market leader in small-ticket leasing for contract values of up to EUR 50,000. Headquartered in Baden-Baden, the Group offers simple, liquidity-preserving financing solutions through around 2,300 employees in 31 countries worldwide and 35,000 specialist reseller partners to more than 700,000 customers – the majority of them small and medium-sized enterprises. grenke’s product range extends from IT equipment and laboratory equipment to eBikes. Since it was founded in 1978, grenke has followed a growth trajectory. At the end of 2025, the leasing volume amounted to approximately EUR 11.4 billion. The grenke Group includes grenke Bank, which makes a significant contribution to refinancing. grenke AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A161N30).