8:30 am, December 1, 2016
THE boss of car supermarket Motorpoint has blamed the result of the Brexit vote for the company’s dip in financial fortunes.
The Derby-based vehicle retail empire, which has 11 retail sites across the UK, reported a drop in its operating profit of nearly a third for the first half of this financial year – down by 32 per cent from £10.3m to £7.0m on the same period last year – despite revenue increasing from £366.8m to £408.9m.
Pre-tax profit was down a massive 76 per cent, falling from £10.2m last year to £2.4m this year.
Despite the profit drop, though, it is making an interim dividend payment of 1.33p – its first since its £200m float in May.
Managing director Mark Carpenter, pictured at top, said: ‘The uncertainty around the result of the EU referendum contributed to the group’s disappointing performance in the first half. However, we managed stock levels carefully, thereby maintaining our industry-leading stock turn despite the short-term impact on margins. While some uncertainty around Brexit remains, the three new sites that we have opened in the last 12 months are performing well and we anticipate they will deliver a solid performance in the second half.
‘Despite the softening in consumer confidence, market conditions since the period end have remained stable, with a good level of stock availability, and margins have returned to normal levels. We continue to invest in opening new sites, and we have recently acquired a leasehold site in Sheffield, which will open in spring 2017.’
He added that the company, which started in 1998 and now has more than 600 employees, was in a good position ‘to deliver a full year performance in line with expectations’.
Earlier this year, Motorpoint was once again named by the Sunday Times as one of the best companies to work for – the second year running that it has been awarded the title. It was ranked 58th in the list of Top 100 Best Mid-Sized Companies To Work For – up 34 places on last year.
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