8:15 am, January 11, 2023
Bosses at Lookers say the firm is likely to have made more profit than previously expected in 2022 after its performance skyrocketed at the end of the year.
In an announcement to the London Stock Exchange (LSE), directors said they now expect the Car Dealer Top 100 company to have made more than £80m before tax in the 12 months to December 31, 2022.
Despite the impressive forecasts, that figure is still down on the £90.1m the Altrincham-based outfit made in 2021, when it received £9.8m in Covid support.
The recent statement said that in Q4, the UK new retail car market grew by one per cent, with Lookers outperforming that by approximately 3.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the firm’s sales were 8.6 per cent ahead of the same point in the previous year – a huge bounce back from Q3 when they declined by 7.2 per cent.
Lookers’ aftersales revenues also grew in the final three months of the year and were roughly 7.5 per cent ahead of where they were in 2021.
Customer visits and gross profit margins were broadly in line with the previous year, bosses told investors.
At the end of 2022, the company had a net cash balance of around £70.0m, compared to £3m last year, and property with a book value in the region of £297m.
In October, the group began a share buyback programme of up to £15m and has so far purchased 5.7m shares at a cost of £4.5m – working out at 78p per share.
The period also saw the group open its first ORA showrooms as the Chinese brand looks to enter the UK market.
Reacting to the update, Mark Raban, Lookers’ CEO, said: ‘We’ve enjoyed a strong close to the year, outperforming the new retail market, leading to an increase in our full year profit expectations.
‘This has been achieved against a context of significant supply chain disruption and unprecedented inflationary cost pressure. Despite a number of ongoing trading headwinds, we have started 2023 confidently.
‘Our strong OEM relationships, clear strategic priorities, financial capacity and above all the commitment of my Lookers colleagues leaves us very well positioned for the future.’
Mark Raban, CEO of Lookers
Expectations for 2023 remain unchanged
Bosses say that despite the strong end to 2022, they remain conscious of external factors such as high inflation and interest rates in 2023.
In the short-term, the group is is expecting to open a new Lotus showroom in Belfast in Q1 before publishing its preliminary 2022 results on April 5.
The current forecasts for 2023 remain unchanged and order banks for new retail and fleet vehicles are currently high, directors have said.
‘The board is encouraged by the strength of trading in Q4 and the magnitude of our new car retail and fleet order banks entering into 2023,’ the LSE statement says.
‘However, we are also conscious of the potential impact on consumer spending by external factors such as high inflation and interest rates.
‘We begin the new financial year with confidence in the resilience of our business model and ‘omni-channel’ customer offering, and as such the board’s expectations for 2023 remain unchanged.’
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