Zenith has increased turnover and profitability, and has grown its funded fleet by 8% with another record-breaking performance.

Publishing its annual financial results for the year ending March 31, turnover increased by 16.8% to £688.1 million (2022: £589.1m) and it delivered another record EBITDA of £79.4m (2022: £74.7m).

Against a challenging economic backdrop, Zenith’s CEO Tim Buchan says that the company’s diverse business model, addressing business and consumer markets, has continued to prove resilient, driving positive outcomes across the Group’s three divisions.

Buchan said: “I am proud to report that Zenith has delivered another year of record performance, with EBITDA at almost £80m and the size of our funded fleet reaching an all-time high. This has been achieved while making significant investments in the business to position us for continued success over the long term.”

Zenith’s total fleet, including funded and managed vehicles, grew by 3.9% to 168,292 vehicles, up from 162,041 units in 2022/23, despite new car registrations declining to their lowest level since 1992.

Meanwhile, its funded fleet grew by 8.4% to 76,034 vehicles, up from 70,155 last financial year, with the percentage of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the funded fleet growing to 32%, almost doubling the 19% reported in 2022/23.

Zenith has invested more than £400m in electric vehicles (EVs) in the past 18 months, as more company car fleets make the switch and salary sacrifice continues to gain traction in the market.

The vehicle leasing company raised a £475m green bond at the start of last year, to help it source and finance EVs to meet growing demand in the marketplace. 

A year-and-a-half later, more than £400m of the green bond has been spent growing its EV risk fleet. 

Overall order bank now stands at more than 12,000 vehicles, underpinning Zenith’s future growth ambitions, while ZenAuto also moved into profit, with the fleet growing to more than 11,000 vehicles.

Buchan continued: “Once again, the fundamental resilience of our strategy and business model has come to the fore, enabling us to continue delivering despite the testing economic backdrop.

“From the ongoing war in Ukraine and supply chain disruption, inflationary pressures, and interest rate uncertainty, to increases in overhead costs, there have been challenges throughout our sector for both businesses and consumers.

“Nevertheless, we have stepped up and shown how we can adapt and grow as a team to thrive, for example responding to the growing demand for company-sponsored vehicle schemes (both company car and salary sacrifice), as companies and their employees seek to take advantage of benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax incentives.

“At the same time, we have not faltered in our vision to decarbonise the UK vehicle parc by eliminating tailpipe emissions. Over 32% of our funded fleet is already electric, and 47%1 of the current order book is for battery electric vehicles.”

Zenith’s success this year was recognised by Fleet News at this year's Fleet News Awards, which named Zenith as Leasing Company of the Year (more than 20,000 vehicles).

“I would like to thank all our incredible people for the day-in, day-out support they give to our customers. And to thank our customers and partners – long standing and new – who place their trust and confidence in Zenith every day,” Buchan added.