Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions has reported a pre-tax profit of £24.8m for FY18/19; up 3.3% from the £24m recorded for the previous tax year.

Jon Lawes, MD Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions

The business unit, part of Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC, now operates more than 68,200 assets – up 0.9% on the 67,600 for the prior financial year and totalling £822m.

The growth, which contributed to the highest Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC overall group profit of £123.1m for FY18/19, follows the announcement at the start of the year that the leasing and fleet management specialist is playing a key role in Optimise Prime, the world’s biggest trial of commercial electric vehicles. Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions will provide fleet insight and a wider understanding of the impacts of the charging infrastructure, network service provision and commercial solution to identify optimal performance for alternative fuel fleets.

The business has also started the new financial year strongly with the recent announcement of a £136m contract to manage Network Rail’s owned and leased road vehicle fleet.

Jon Lawes, managing director of Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, credited the company’s success to its close work with customers to deliver market-leading solutions, as well as significant investments in IT systems.

Looking ahead, Lawes added: “In the longer term, support for a transition to green fleets must be a priority. As we have seen from our involvement in Optimise Prime, the industry is already rising to the challenge and we will continue to demonstrate leadership in supporting this movement.”