9:37 am, October 15, 2014
REVENUES broke through the £1 billion barrier at Vertu Motors in the six months to August 31, 2014.
The company, the UK’s sixth largest automotive retailer, said there had been a ‘record trading performance driven by recently-acquired businesses and favourable conditions’ during the period.
Like-for-like new retail volume increased by 11.8 per cent – ahead of the market – while like-for-like used volumes rose by 11.6 per cent.
The exact revenue figure for the period was £1,083.9 million (up from £837.2 million for the same period last year); while profit before tax was up 48.8 per cent to £12.8 million.
The group reported a healthy operating cash inflow of £15.9 million and earnings per share were up 16.8 per cent to 2.99p.
There were other areas of progress at the company, which operates under brand names such as Bristol Street Motors, Vertu Honda and Macklin Motors. Service revenues were up 4.4 per cent and service margins strengthened, up to 76.4 per cent from 75.7 per cent.
Robert Forrester, chief executive of the firm, said: ‘The Board is delighted with this record first-half performance.
‘Recent acquisitions, the Farnell Land Rover business particularly, have made a strong contribution and the core business continues to benefit from management success in improving returns in the used car and servicing areas.
‘We continue to deliver on the group’s strategy to recruit and retain motivated and talented people in every dealership to ensure the business is management-driven not market-driven.
‘With the team we have in place, with the recently-acquired businesses which should improve as our operating model is implemented, with a strong balance sheet and a healthy pipeline of acquisition opportunities, the board looks to the future with confidence.’
