7:30 am, October 9, 2025
Group 1 Automotive’s UK business slumped to a spectacular eight figure loss in a busy 2024, dominated by acquisitions and cuts.
Accounts, recently filed via Companies House, show that Group 1 Automotive UK Limited made a pre-tax loss of £26.16m in the 12 months to the end of last December.
The result represents a complete collapse on the previous year’s accounts, which showed a hefty profit-before-tax of £41.74m.
Bosses say that the group’s £346m acquisition of Inchcape’s UK dealerships last summer – while a ‘long term strategic transaction’ – had negatively impacted the year’s profitability.
According to figures included in the the documents, associated spending after the deal ended up costing Group 1 an eye-watering £32.2m.
This was made up of goodwill and intangible asset amortisation of £11.8m; one-off restructuring and system integration costs of £13.2m and increased interest charges from acquisition financing, which came in at £7.2m.
The firm was also hit by a ‘complex macroeconomic environment’ which saw dealers across the industry battle against ‘persistent inflationary pressures, elevated interest rates, and cautious consumer sentiment’.
Despite this, turnover rose from £2.45bn to £3.23bn, supported by increased sales of both new and used vehicles, largely as a result of the firm’s growth.
Throughout the year, Group 1 sold 64,605 new vehicles, compared to just 32,757 in 2023. When it came to used car sales, the outfit shifted 59,972 units, compared to 42,039 last time out.
Elsewhere, gross margins dipped from 7.63% to 7.21%.
Writing in the accounts, finance director Mark Leeder said: ‘The UK group turnover generated was £3.2bn, an increase of 28% on prior year.
‘This growth can largely be attributed to acquisitions made during the year. In August 2024, the UK group completed the acquisition of 54 dealerships from Inchcape Plc, significantly expanding the retail footprint across England and a major step in the UK group’s growth strategy.
‘The UK group also expanded its relationship with BMW and Mercedes-Benz with further dealership acquisitions made throughout the year.
‘The UK Group reported an operating profit of £7.1m in 2024 (2023: £61.1m) and a statutory loss before tax of £26.2m
‘Like for like stores remained profitable, supported by increased sales of both new and used vehicles units and growth in aftersales revenue.
‘However, overall revenue stayed broadly flat, driven by changes in sales mix, with a shift towards fleet sales, and gross margin reduced to 7.21% driven by the easing of supply constraints and normalisation of used vehicle margins.
‘Operating costs also rose, driven by inflationary pressures and statutory increases in the national minimum wage.
‘In August 2024, the group completed the acquisition of Inchcape UK, a long term strategic transaction, however this had significant impact on the 2024 financial results.’
The cost of growth?
As well as the Inchcape deal, Group 1 also agreed a takeover of Soper BMW Lincoln last October.
The overall growth is made clear in the accounts, with the firm’s number of UK dealerships swelling from 55 to 114 in just one year.
However, since agreeing the acquisitions, the firm has come under criticism for staff, who have accused bosses of treating the employees like they are ‘nothing’.
This year alone, Group 1 has announced dealership closures and job losses in Wirral, Cheltenham, Hyde and Telford.
In the accounts, Leeder conceded that the acquisitions had led to ‘significant duplication of operating overheads’ but said steps were being taken to ‘improve efficiency’.
At the end of the period covered by the accounts, Group 1 had UK net assets totalling £261,67m, compared to £194,8m in 2023, while staff numbers more than doubled – going from an average 3,718 to 7,630.
As a result, staff costs rose by 45% to £242.92m, with directors’ remunerations going from £433,000 to £1.45m.
Two days before the accounts were published Group 1 also confirmed the termination of Philip Southwick, VP of retail operations, as a director.
