Leading German car rental agency Sixt has unveiled its first quarter results and reports that the financial year has begun brightly.

Widely popular with UK holidaymakers, Sixt made a significant increase in the quarter which has traditionally been the lowest for income generation. Sixt, which is also one of Europe’s foremost mobility service providers, announced that pre-tax earnings had grown by a massive a €42.6 million to final figure of €8 million.

The figure was called encouraging in light of the uncertain economic recovery, as Sixt also managed to match the high service levels of the same period last year in its rental division. The Sixt Leasing Business Unit even recorded growth of nearly five per cent in revenue.

The Managing Board Chairman of Sixt, Erich Sixt, welcomed the Q1 announcement, saying he and the board were very happy with the early months of 2010. The group has already achieved half of its entire profit generation from 2009. A number of factors were behind the strong performance claimed Sixt, citing cautious fleet policies, a trend away from insufficiently profitable ventures and clear cost management as keys to past and future success.

The consolidated revenue for Sixt for the first quarter of 2010 fell by 2.8 per cent to €366 million in comparison to last year. The consolidated pre-tax earnings were €19.5 million, with the total after-tax profit for the quarter €6.4 million.