8:50 am, March 31, 2025
Directors at Hendy Group have concluded that trading in 2023 was ‘acceptable’ despite profits tumbling, and announced the business will be turning a loss in 2024.
The Hampshire-based motor group has only just signed off accounts for the year ended December 31, 2023, and they highlight the challenging market conditions car dealers faced nearly two years ago.
Turnover for the Car Dealer Top 100-ranked firm jumped from £1bn in 2022 to £1.2bn in 2023, and consisted of £1.08bn in vehicle sales and £87.5m in aftersales.
However, pre-tax profit plummeted from £20.3m in 2022 to £11.0m.
Before 2023, Hendy booked a pre-tax profit £17.56m in 2021, and £1.11m in Covid-hit 2020.
Directors said: ‘The profit before tax of £11,048k was an acceptable results given market turbulence in the second half of the year, and in particular the rapid depreciation in used vehicle values in the final quarter of the year. This fall in values covered all vehicles, but was disproportionately severe for premium and electric vehicles.
‘The key aims for 2023 were to deliver another year of strong profitability, and to manage the cash position effectively enough to be able to redeem as much of the redeemable equity as possible.
‘The group was reasonably successful against these aims.’
Gross profit margin came to 11.9% compared to 13.0% in 2022, while return on sales came to 1.5% based on operating profit and 0.9% on profit-before-tax, compared to 2.3% and 2.0% in 2022 respectively.
Directors stated that 2024 accounts were set to show a loss, before profitability predicted to return in 2025.
The 2023 accounts said: ‘The unaudited management accounts for the year to December 31, 2024 show a loss. The loss for the year being due to poor new and used vehicle performance.’
It added that profitability is forecast to return in 2025 ‘as a result of new and used vehicle profitability, closure of certain loss making sites and a cost reduction programme’.
During 2023, Hendy Group finished its relationship with Toyota and Lexus and added Vauxhall to its portfolio of brands, which includes Ford, JLR, Nissan, Skoda, Kia, and Honda.
It acquired Poole Vauxhall in September 2023, while, during 2024, Peugeot, Fiat and Citroen franchises have been added to the site.
Also during 2023, a new dealership to house Nissan, Renault, Dacia and Alpine was completed in November, and a series of upgrades for its Ford, Kia and Mazda showrooms began.
The publication of the 2023 accounts comes shortly after Hendy announced Daksh Gupta has taken up the role of chairman, current COO Duncan McPhee has become a director, and Michael Buxton and Nigel Farrell have been appointed as non-executive directors.
