The year 2008 was another very successful year for ARVAL CZ from the point of view of new and total production, and from the point of view of the management of the vehicle fleet we strengthened our position as the second most important company providing exclusively operational leasing cars. Leased property with a value exceeding one billion crowns was purchased, we put 2,534 new cars into operation and the year closed off with 7,807 cars. This represents a 22% growth in the total managed fleet, which we consider a great success within the context of the macroeconomic situation and movement on the leasing market. GDP growth during the course of the year gradually fell, financing conditions gradually worsened and the number of newly registered personal and utility vehicles in 2008 otherwise grew, by more or less only 4.7% (a total of 203,600). The share of operational leasing of the overall leasing of movables increased by 19.7%, while opposed to this the share of personal and utility vehicle leasing fell slightly, which we explain as the negative impact of legislative changes on leasing finance.

In 2008 ARVAL CZ also experienced a considerable growth in personnel and an expansion of services on offer and their quality. Last but not least, as we have already informed you in a past issue of the magazine, we changed our address midway through the year and moved to the Gemini building at Pankrác, which was incidentally recently rated as the fifth most interesting address in Prague.

Our parent company, the BNP Paribas bank, got through 2008 successfully despite the developing financial crisis and posted a net profit of around 3 billion Euros. According to Standard and Poor’s, BNP Paribas is one of the three strongest banks in the world and is the European leader in banking and financial services. That gives the whole ARVAL group a guaranteed stable background for overcoming the generally expected difficulties which 2009 will bring and for the fulfillment of future bold plans.


Text: Libor Mudra