8:26 am, June 6, 2024
Bosses at Alexanders Prestige say they are ‘satisfied’ with the firm’s performance, despite a dip in profit and revenue.
The supercar dealer has published its annual accounts via Companies House, with documents showing a more difficult year for the retailer.
In the 12 months to August 31, 2023, the outfit saw a drop in its pre-tax profit, turnover and gross margin, with directors putting the struggle down to ‘general macroeconomic conditions’ and a ‘challenging sector’.
The accounts, published for Alexanders Prestige Group, show that the firm generated a turnover of £68.09m in the 2023 financial year. The figure is down on the £71.35m it brought in last year – a drop off of more than 4.5%.
When broken down, the vast majority of turnover (£67.65m) came from vehicle sales, with service, parts and aftercare sales bringing in £430,694.
Elsewhere, the outfit’s pre-tax profit plummeted an eye-watering 85% from £1.54m in 2022 to £217,500 in 2023.
Meanwhile, the group’s gross margin fell to 7.5%, compared to 8.3% in the last set of annual accounts.
Commenting on the results, director and co-founder Andrew North, vowed not to be deterred by ‘short term economic swings.’
He said: ‘The directors are satisfied with the group’s financial performance in the context of the challenging sector and general macroeconomic conditions experienced during the year and particularly os across the later part of the financial year.
‘These conditions have continued to impact post financial year end.
‘As experienced professionals, the directors understand the impact external factors will inevitably have on business performance as the economy passes through different stages of its cycle.
‘During any downturn, accompanied as it has been by significantly higher base rates than have been the case for some years, the group benefits from the very strong fundamentals that management has worked so hard to put in place over an extended period of time and still continues to invest in and reinforce.’
He added: ‘Throughout the course of the year, management has continued to work closely with employees, funding partners and valued suppliers to ensure the group remained on a very strong financial footing.
‘An unerring focus on employees, commitment to our customers, methodical financial planning and the flexibility to be able to pivot the group’s operations as market dynamics change has ensured that the group’s fundamentals remain robust.
‘Naturally, current market conditions are seen as temporary by the directors so the group has not reined in its ongoing investment in all parts of the business, particularly its marketing team which has grown substantially during the year and its digital marketing efforts where management continues to see much improvement.
‘This investment is seen as crucial to the long term performance of the business and management will not be deterred by short term economic swings.’
Alexanders Prestige Group incorporates supercar dealership Alexanders Prestige Ltd as well as premium used vehicle dealer Harvey Cooper Cars Ltd.
Throughout 2023, staff numbers as the group dropped from 56 to 45, with wages and salaries falling 6% to £1.85m. Directors’ remuneration rose 2.1% to £234,597.
Alexanders Prestige won our Days To Turn Award at the 2023 Used Car Awards and received a nomination in the Specialist Used Car Dealer category too.
The business has also featured in our Selling Supercars series of videos.
You can find watch the full video, as well as all other episodes of our Selling Supercar series, on the dedicated playlist on our YouTube channel.
