8:30 am, July 25, 2013
VERTU Motors says its strong trading figures experienced in the first four months of this year are ‘ahead of expectations’.
The group says it has been benefiting from strong market conditions with significant year-on-year growth in the new car retail market, and new car registrations to private buyers up by 16.6 per cent.
This growth is due to the consumer offers provided by a number of manufacturers, which has stimulated market demand in the UK as the European new car markets continue to decline.
Used vehicle sales rose by 4.7 per cent in the 12-month period to March 2013 on a like-for-like basis. Meanwhile, when looking at aftersales, the group saw an increase in sales, gross profits and net profits.
Gross margins in both vehicle sales and aftersales also saw an increase. However, the overall margin achieved was a reflection of a change in the sales mix with vehicle sales representing 61.2 per cent of the group’s total revenues during the period.
Chairman of Vertu Motors, Paul Williams, said in a statement: ‘The group’s like-for-like new retail volumes increased by 18.6 per cent both as a consequence of these strong market conditions and also demonstrating outperformance over the period.
‘The group has seen continued growth in its car fleet operations in the period, with like-for-like volumes increasing by 26.8 per cent compared to the growth of 3.7 per cent in UK car fleet registrations.
‘This substantial outperformance and growth in market share by the group reflects its expertise and depth of capability in the fleet area. UK commercial vehicle registrations grew by 8.2 per cent in the period.
‘The group’s sales of commercial vehicles grew by 2.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis, reflecting the relative underperformance of the franchises which the Group represents in the market place.’
Williams added: ‘As a result of the overall momentum in the business, the group has recorded like-for-like profit growth in each of its activities of new retail and used car sales, fleet and commercial vehicle sales, and vehicle servicing. Total revenue grew by 30.8 per cent with like-for-like revenues growing by 13.2 per cent.’
Looking ahead, Vertu says it is ‘well placed to maximise the opportunity for profitable growth both from favourable market conditions and from the turnaround in profitability of recent acquisitions’.
