12:14 pm, June 17, 2025
Bosses at dealer group Cambria are feeling ‘confident’ about the future after the firm posted improved profits for 2024.
Accounts recently published via Companies House show that Cambria Investments Holdings Ltd made a pre-tax profit of £29.32m in the 12 months ending August 31, 2024.
That figure marks a 41% improvement on the previous year’s result, when the group made £20.79m, despite turnover falling from £615.63m to £562.17m.
Meanwhile, the firm’s adjusted EBITDA figure rose by almost 80% from £28.6m to £50.9m.
Despite the achievements, the group’s net debt increased from £2.2m to £15.5m, which directors put down to a ‘focus on cash and the ability of the underlying operations to generate cash’.
In a statement included in the accounts, director Paul Buddin said: ‘Whilst turnover is back year-on-year, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating profit and adjusted pre-tax profit are significantly forward year-on-year.
‘This is despite the challenging market conditions described earlier and the other events experienced during the financial year.
‘This year, for the first time, the financial benefit of the D2G [Direct-to-Guest] strategy could be reflected in the results.
‘The results for the year have been significantly enhanced by the realisation of gains from the investment the group has made in property.
‘In every year since the group started trading in 2006 it has always made a profit, which demonstrates the Group knows how to trade when markets are both positive as well as challenging.’
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Elsewhere, the accounts reveal small staffing cutbacks throughout 2024, with Cambria’s average workforce falling from 628 to 616 people.
As a result, staffing costs dipped from £32.02m to £29.11m and directors’ remunerations from £1.92m to £1.71m. Meanwhile, ordinary dividends were declared amounting to £1.05m throughout the year.
The period also saw heavy investment in the firm’s Grange brand of luxury car dealers. The firm’s Edinburgh site, which represents both Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin, underwent a significant investment, while a new Aston Martin facility also opened in Solihull.
Buddin added: ‘During the year, Grange completed two significant investments in dealerships for its HLS partners.
‘In Edinburgh, Grange completed the refurbishment of the prestigious Number 1 Corstorphine Road which now colocates Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in a prime location covering all of Scotland.
‘The location was opened officially in May 2024 with a Charity Dinner and Auction, which raised over £130,000 for two children’s charities (The Yard and Duchenne UK).
‘Post year end, the new Aftersales facility for both brands in Edinburgh was also completed.
‘The group also completed a brand-new facility in Solihull Birmingham to represent Grange Aston Martin, in what was one of the first in the world to reflect Aston Martin’s new 21st Century brand identity.
‘Grange were proud to be able to host around 200 guests at the official opening in September 2024, at which Marco Mattiacci (the global chief brand and commercial officer of Aston Martin Lagonda) described the dealership as “The best Aston Martin dealership in the world”.
‘Both these new facilities will have a transformational impact on Grange’s representation for Aston Martin and RollsRoyce Motor Cars and will spearhead the growth of Grange in the coming years.’
Cambria Investments Holdings Ltd is the parent company of Cambria Automobiles, which went private following a management buyout in 2021.
The group not only incorporates the firm’s retail operations but also ‘RAMP’ – which provides a range of repair and maintenance plans throughout the UK – and ‘SOGO’, which specialises in providing sustainable vehicle-based mobility solutions, chiefly through mobility leasing agreements.
