Net profits for last year rose 20% to €199 million compared to €165 million in 2009. Income rose by 18% and the total number of vehicles remained stable at 1.3 million.

Vahid Daemi, CEO and Chairman of LeasePlan, said: 'In 2010 LeasePlan’s performance almost returned to the levels we realised before the economic crisis. We achieved a solid increase in net profit of 20% compared to 2009. Taking into consideration an incidental net profit contribution in 2009, the increase in net profit of actual business performance was even substantially higher. The good performance was supported by a strong reduction in losses on contract terminations because of improving used vehicle market conditions and our successful risk mitigating actions. Other traditional income components were stable or increased slightly.'

The company said that 2010 also saw it accelerate its plans to solidify its funding position based on its diversification strategy. This was strongly contributed to by the launch of the new internet savings bank LeasePlan Bank, which attracted savings in excess of €1.5 billion by the end of 2010.

Commenting on the outlook for 2011, Mr Daemi said: 'Looking forward, the resilience of our business model in times of economic turbulence has given us confidence for the year 2011. We expect further improvement in LeasePlan's performance in 2011, provided that there is no significant relapse in the current economic recovery.'