Element Fleet Management announced Q1/18 net revenue was C$208.4 million down 1.7% from $212.0 million for the same quarter a year earlier. After tax adjusted operating income of C$61.3 million was down 10.6% from C$68.6 million in Q1/17.

The following highlights were excerpted from the news release:

• Core fleet originations in Q1/18 were C$1.47 billion, up 10.5% from C$1.33 billion in Q1/17 and up 2.8% from C$1.43 billion in Q4/17, both on a currency neutral basis.
• Net earning assets at March 31, 2018 were C$12.5 billion, an increase of 3.8% on a constant-currency basis relative to the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Services and other revenue was C$128.5 million for Q1/18, consistent with the prior year and down sequentially from C$141.0 million in Q4/17. The sequential decrease reflected a near-term decline in service units as previously announced, as well as higher syndication and remarketing fees in the prior quarter.
• Recent customer wins include high quality commercial fleets in the industrial, food and beverage, services, construction and vehicle rental industries.
• Element maintains strong liquidity and access to capital, with C$4.3 billion in available financing to fund ongoing originations and growth.
• In April 2018, the company completed the issuance of $1 billion of rated term notes through its Chesapeake Funding II platform. The funding took place at attractive spreads and benefitted from both existing investors and first-time participants in the program.
• The company’s investment-grade credit ratings were recently affirmed by DBRS, (BBB (high)), Fitch Ratings (BBB+) and Kroll Bond Rating Agency
  (A-), each with a stable outlook.

“We are making solid progress on our key business objectives and expect to see continued improvement in our operating and financial results as the year goes on,” said Dan Jauernig, acting chief executive officer. “Our first quarter adjusted operating income was slightly above plan, and our focus on operational excellence is yielding positive results as we enhance the customer experience and surface greater efficiencies across the organization. With continued investments in our platform we are also extending our technology advantage which is leading to new business, the retention of existing clients, and stronger customer relationships overall. Finally, we remain encouraged by the number and quality of opportunities in our pipeline, which we expect to drive accretive growth in the second half of the year.”