9:38 am, April 27, 2017
LEADING car dealer group Pendragon has made a strong start to 2017, with significant growth in aftersales and used car sales in the first three months of the year.
A statement from the company’s management today revealed revenue growth in the used vehicle sector of more than 23 per cent.
That figure is significantly ahead of its annual target of double-digit growth and has helped the company remain on track to achieve its long-term aim of doubling used vehicle revenues by 2021.
Aftersales gross profit grew by nearly eight per cent with the company’s websites performing strongly. Chief executive Trevor Finn, pictured, said: ‘We had more than eight million visitors to Evanshalshaw.com and Stratstone.com in the first quarter as our online business continues to grow.’
Overall in the first quarter of 2017, underlying profit before tax increased by 17.6 per cent. Other highlights were as follows:
Revenue grew by 10.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis with used revenue growth accelerating to 23.3 per cent.
Aftersales gross profit grew by 7.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Used gross profit grew by 16.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
New car gross profit was flat year-on-year.
The company described its financial position as strong, and said its debt ratio was significantly below its target range.
The trading update said: ‘At this stage of the year, we are encouraged with early trading, and therefore we are comfortably positioned with respect to our expectations.’
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