11:50 am, March 1, 2017
INCHCAPE plc has reported 14.7 per cent revenue growth, up by £1 billion in 2016.
In its annual results announcement this morning, the dealer group revealed that revenue is now up to £7.8bn from £6.8bn in 2015. Operating profit for the group was up by 0.8 per cent to £277.5m.
Overall, Inchcape reported a resilient profit performance in the UK which it said was achieved despite higher overheads caused by investments in dealerships and operational processes to strengthen the long-term positioning of the business.
A lower new vehicle margin due to the competitive market environment also put pressure on the group, but it remains highly focused on outperforming its competitors.
Group CEO of Inchcape plc Stefan Bomhard commented: ‘I believe our 2016 results demonstrate the strength of our business model as we sustained our track record of growth, converting a robust revenue performance into earnings growth and strong free cash flow.
‘At the same time, we retained our disciplined approach to capital allocation with the proposed 14 per cent growth in the full year dividend to 23.8p per share and completing the share buy-back programme we commenced last year demonstrating our commitment to driving sustainable shareholder returns.
He continued: ‘Looking forward, we are well positioned to continue to leverage our global scale, drive growth from the installed base of vehicles and benefit from our positions across a unique spread of markets.
‘More specifically for 2017, although we anticipate a continuation of the transactional currency headwind for our Australasia region and a slower new vehicle trend in some markets, we expect to deliver a resilient constant currency performance.
‘Our overall 2017 performance will benefit from the recent accretive South American acquisition and, if Sterling remains around current levels, from the translation impact arising from the substantial proportion of our profits being generated in other currencies.’
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