9:26 am, December 7, 2022
CarSupermarket’s parent company has seen its losses deepen almost fourfold from £13.4m to £51.9m.
French online used car dealer outfit Aramis Group said in its results for the year ended September 30, which have just been released, its losses went from €15.7m on a reported basis and €15.5m pro forma to €60.2m, including a €3m (£2.6m) income tax expense.
Its total revenue was €1,768.9bn (£1.525bn)– up 40 per cent on a reported basis on 2021 and up 29.2 per cent pro forma.
Of that figure, €432.8m (£373m) came from the UK – up 147.5 per cent on a reported basis and a 54.7 per cent increase pro forma.
The gross profit per unit (GPU) for each business-to-customer vehicle sold by Aramis came to €2,142 (£1,846), which was 6.6 per cent lower than 2021’s pro forma figure of €2,292 and 7.2 per cent down on the €2,307 reported figure.
Aramis attributed the lower GPU to a country mix effect of 38 per cent and 62 per cent operational factors – more specifically, a contraction in the ‘metal margin’, ie, the margin generated on the sale of the cars themselves.
But it said it was in line with its target average levels as well as being ‘significantly higher’ than the levels of its main European competitors
Aramis’s adjusted EBITDA was in the red to the tune of €10.7m (£9.2m) – a massive slump from 2021’s figure of €37.2m pro forma and €32.6m on a reported basis.
But it said that was in line with its guidance figure of minus €10m to minus €12m.
Aramis shifted a total of 81,731 cars, comprising 69,384 refurbished and 12,347 pre-registered.
Stellantis-owned Aramis bought Italian online used car business Brumbrum from Cazoo on October 31, just nine months after the self-styled online disruptor acquired the company itself.
The sum paid for Italy’s only fully online distributor of used vehicles was never revealed, but in its results announcement, Aramis said the purchase was made ‘under extremely attractive financial conditions’.
Aramis, which also has business interests in Austria, Belgium and Spain, added: ‘This operation has enabled the group to add a new highly strategic country to its portfolio, as Italy is the fourth largest European country in terms of used vehicle sales and the Stellantis Group has a market share of over 40 per cent in this country.’
In a joint statement, Aramis Group co-founders Nicolas Chartier and Guillaume Paoli said: ‘FY 2022 was, on many levels, completely unprecedented, and our teams, whom we would like to thank, have done a tremendous job of adapting.’
They said the teams had ‘ been able to remarkably maintain their strong focus on customer satisfaction, offering quality vehicles at the right price, enabling us to achieve our objectives for growth on the refurbished vehicle segment’.
Chartier and Paoli added: ‘The staff in the refurbishing centres were also a key factor behind our success this year, supporting the very strong growth in the volumes of vehicles to be refurbished, while respecting our high standards of quality.
‘Despite limited visibility and a still uncertain market for 2023, Aramis Group is still effectively positioned to continue growing, and is confident in the ability of its teams to pursue the roadmap that will enable it to become the preferred platform for Europeans to buy a used car online.’
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