Traton Financial Services revenue climbs 10%

Traton Financial Services, the financing arm of German commercial vehicle manufacturer Traton Group, posted higher revenue in the third quarter despite decreased unit sales at the parent company.

Traton Financial Services‘ sales revenue jumped 9.6% year over year to 535 million euros ($620.4 million), and its operating result increased 18.4% YoY to $67.3 million, according to Traton Group’s earnings presentation today.

The captive’s portfolio growth was largely attributed to the “solid and continued performance of Scania Financial Services, while MAN Financial Services showed strong momentum as they scale up their operations,” Chief Financial Officer Michael Jackstein said during today’s earnings call. Scania and MAN Truck & Bus are commercial vehicle subsidiaries of Traton Group.

“Additionally, following the start of operations in July, the Traton Financial Services setup for Volkswagen Truck & Bus in Brazil also contributed to the portfolio growth,” he said. “That said, as we continue to ramp up these operations, higher costs are weighing on our results. Consequently, the Q3 return on equity stood at 9.1% in Q3, which is 1.9 percentage points lower year over year.”

Meanwhile, Traton Group reported in Q3:

• Incoming orders fell 2.9% YoY to 62,512;
• Unit sales declined 16.2% YoY to 71,429;
• Truck sales dipped 0.8% to 50,426 units; and
• Bus sales fell 30.6% YoY to 5,772 units.

The sales decline came amid ongoing challenges facing the transportation sector, “particularly in North America and Brazil,” Chief Executive Christian Levin stated in the company’s earnings release today. The company is emphasizing speed, innovation and portfolio diversity to address these challenges while working to gain market share in China, Levin said.

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