7:03 am, August 10, 2023
BMW and Mini retailer William Morgan Group saw its pre-tax profit rise by nearly 30 per cent to more than £5.5m in 2022 – by selling fewer vehicles.
Its accounts for the year ended December 31, 2022, newly published on the Companies House website, show pre-tax profit went up from £4.307m in 2021 to £5.562m last year on revenue that went up by 15 per cent from £213.614m to £245.728m.
Meanwhile, gross profit at the Northampton-based Car Dealer Top 100 firm, which comprises Wollaston Motors in Bedford Road, Northampton, and North Oxford Garage at Wolvercote Roundabout, Oxford, rose by 18.3 per cent from £23.031m to £27.235m, while operating profit increased by 31 per cent from £5.367m to £7.021m.
However, the actual volume of vehicles sold dipped slightly – by 0.9 per cent – from 7,280 to 7,211.
In the accompanying report, signed on behalf of the board by director Christian Le Fevre, the group says 2022 saw ‘another year of robust trading’ that exceeded internal budgets and the previous year’s performance, commenting that it was ‘a record year’ for the group.
The board said the results were achieved via increased sales volumes and better margin retention as well as ‘a clear focus on cost control’.
The rise in turnover was mainly down to an increase in sales volumes to corporate customers as well as new BMW sales.
All the sales objectives set by BMW (UK) were met, which meant the group secured all volume-related bonuses on BMW, Mini and BMW Motorrad sales.
Gross profit margin also rose slightly to 18.2 per cent.
During the year, the group invested in hardware and IT security to fend off any cyber attacks, it said.
Looking ahead, the directors said they were confident that the group was in a financially sound position ‘to continue thriving in the event of an economic downturn’. As of December 31, it had net assets of £13.247m.
As well as beginning work on redeveloping its Wollaston site during the fourth quarter of 2023, William Morgan Group said it would start selling the Ineos Grenadier this year via a new group-owned entity called Adventure Automotive UK.
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