7:13 am, July 4, 2025
Car dealer group JCT600 made a profit of £20.2m before tax in the year ending December 2024, but this figure and turnover were both down on the previous year.
In its latest set of accounts, published yesterday on Companies House, it reported that profit was down from £36m in 2023 and turnover had dropped from £1.33bn to £1.41bn but both these figures were above pre-pandemic levels.
The statement from the board was positive about the outlook of JCT600, with figures showing that it was above industry levels despite a challenging market.
It said: ‘JCT600 compares favourably to the UK market with new vehicle retail units sold only declining by 4.8% and gross profit margin by 9.6%.
‘2024 was the weakest UK new car market this century. Used vehicle turnover decreased by 7.4%, however on a like for like basis volume has increased by 6.1%.
‘This compares favourably to the UK market increase of 5.5%. Given the turmoil in the new car market the group focused on used vehicles, increasing the mix of lower value vehicles sold to achieve volume targets. An increase in gross profit margins [on used vehicles] of 15% contributed to an overall excellent performance.
‘Aftersales turnover increased by 4.4%. A change in the mix of work in favour of warranty jobs, due to reliability issues with new BEV product, combined with continued pressure on technician’s wages (increased by 4.4%), resulted in margins falling by 0.6%.’
Gross profit margins did fall but only marginally from 13.04% to 13% in during the year.
The accounts also revealed that net debt increased by £11.2m during the year as part of the group’s investment of £16.3m in freehold locations.
The board also revealed that performance in Q1 of 2025 had already exceeded expectations.
