12:00 pm, July 28, 2022
Automotive retail giant Group 1 Automotive has announced record profits for the second quarter of 2022 with its UK operations making more than £75m
The US dealer group, which runs 204 dealerships in the UK and America, reported global revenues of £3.4bn ($4.1bn) in the three months to June 31.
That represents an impressive rise of 14.3 per cent when compared to the same period in 2021.
As a result of the increased turnover, the firm saw its gross profit rise by 18.3 per cent to £633.6 ($768.4m) in Q2.
The UK, where Group 1 has around 70 sites, enjoyed huge success during the period with 13,839 new and used vehicles sold.
UK operations made a gross profit of £75.9 ($92.1m), a year-on-year rise of 4.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, revenues rose 1.1 per cent to total £583.5m ($708.2m).
In the first six months of the year, Group 1’s UK gross profit totalled £161.4m ($195.9m), a rise of 26.9 per cent.
Globally, the outfit’s parts and service departments also experienced rapid growth as did its finance and insurance sections.
Earl J. Hesterberg, Group 1’s president and CEO, said: ‘Our record second quarter results were driven by record U.S. revenues and gross profits.
‘Our strength was demonstrated across the breadth of our U.S. business as evidenced by a 34 per cent growth in parts and service and a 20.3 per cent increase in finance and insurance.
‘A major contributing factor to our performance was the extreme speed at which we were able to integrate a large number of new acquisitions over the past 18 months which will provide more than $3bn in expected annual additional revenues in the year ahead.’
Despite the spectacular results, Hesterberg issued a word of warning when it came to new car supply.
Supply chain issues continue to dog the sector and Group 1 has a forward order book on new orders which stretches into next year in the UK.
Hesterberg added: ‘New vehicle supply continues to be constrained, with no discernible change in the flow of new vehicle deliveries to our dealerships as compared to the most recent quarters.
‘In the U.S., we continue to see the majority of new vehicles either pre-sold or sold shortly after delivery.
‘In the U.K., we continue to maintain a forward order book for new vehicles which extends into 2023.’
Group 1 runs BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Seat, Skoda, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Toyota and Ford new car sites as well as a handful of used car centres in the UK.
The dealerships are predominantly based in London, the home counties and on the south coast and operate under the Barons, Beadles and Think Ford names.
Last year, the firm made £1.7bn profit on revenues of £9.9bn.
It is the 9th most profitable dealer in the UK, according to the Car Dealer Top 100.
