Market and clients
Expansion in Europe
Vendor Finance: clients demand global, uniform servicing
Through its Vendor Finance unit, De Lage Landen offers financing solutions that meet the
needs of capital goods vendors and/or distributors as well as those of their clients. Its many
years of international experience, its in-depth knowledge of financial reporting regulations
and Basel II guidelines and its leading position in e-commerce applications have earned
De Lage Landen the reputation of a widely recognised expert in the area of Vendor Finance.
Car Leasing: higher customer satisfaction despite integration
Consumer Finance: Freo launched
Strong competition in the asset financing market caused pressure on the Vendor Finance
unit's interest margin in 2007. The growth in De Lage Landen's Car Leasing activities
outstripped market growth. In 2007, the Dutch market grew by approximately 5%, compared
with 9% for the activities of Car Leasing in the Netherlands. The car lease portfolio grew by
7% to EUR 2.7 (2.5) billion. The Consumer Finance unit launched the Freo label in August
2007. As a result of the further transfer of the portfolio of the local Rabobanks and sales of
new loans, consumer credit grew by 42% to EUR 0.9 (0.7) billion.
De Lage Landen greatly expanded its European presence in 2007. In Poland, De Lage Landen
started the sale of car leasing contracts and signed a collaboration agreement with Bank
BGZ, one of Rabobank Group's minority interests. This agreement enables BGZ clients to
purchase lease products of De Lage Landen. With the acquisition of IT Finans in Norway,
De Lage Landen strengthened its Norwegian presence in 2007. IT Finans specialises in
financing solutions for office supplies and IT. Early in 2008, De Lage Landen acquired
Siemens Leasing and Siemens Finance in Hungary. This acquisition and the newly started
activities of the Cargobull Finance joint venture in Hungary and Romania gave De Lage
Landen a solid platform for further expansion in Central and Eastern Europe.
De Lage Landen intends to serve clients with international operations in identical ways
globally. For that reason, De Lage Landen made further steps in the standardisation of its
business processes in 2007. Additionally, De Lage Landen is constantly looking for
opportunities to expand its global network for the best possible service to its international
vendors. Examples of vendors from various sectors that work closely with De Lage Landen
include: Manitowoc, Stryker, AGCO, Philips Medical, Doosan, Manitowok, EMC, Océ, Ricoh
and Schmitz Cargobull.
De Lage Landen's car lease activities were expanded with the acquisition of Athlon in
mid-2006. As a result, De Lage Landen became second in the Dutch car lease market and
obtained strong positions elsewhere in Europe as well. In Europe, the Car Leasing unit
operates in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Spain and, since mid-2007, in Poland.
The number of car lease contracts grew by 9% to 205,000 (188,000) in 2007.
In the Netherlands, a great deal of effort was spent on the merger of Athlon and Translease in
2007, naturally without losing sight of the customers or the market. This was done successfully.
In 2007, Heliview research agency elected Translease as the most customer oriented car lease
company in the Netherlands, with Athlon at a shared second place. In the survey, clients rated
the general customer satisfaction with a score of 7.7 (7.6) for Translease and 7.5 (7.3) for Athlon.
The survey showed clients to be highly satisfied with the services, although they gave a lower
score to product innovation.
Within Rabobank Group, Consumer Finance is the centre of competence for consumer credit
in the Dutch market. The local Rabobanks work closely with De Lage Landen in the sale of
personal, continuous and student loans. The client takes out the loan at a local Rabobank
and De Lage Landen handles the entire subsequent process. Besides the sale of consumer
credit via the local Rabobanks, De Lage Landen has direct operations in the consumer credit
market under the Freo and Crediam labels.
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Rabobank Group Annual Report 2007
