4:54 pm, February 25, 2011
PENDRAGON has reported a soar in its pre-tax profits after demand at its Stratstone dealerships increased.
The dealership sold more than 100,000 new cars in 2010 which equates to five per cent of the UK car market, with sales growing to £3.6bn, and pre-tax profits to December 31 totalled £11m – a rise of £1.3m. Premium brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover performed particularly strongly at Stratstone sites.
Pendragon’s chief executive, Trevor Finn, said: ‘Pendragon has made considerable strides in 2010, delivering a significant improvement in profitability over 2009. Underlying profit before tax has more than doubled, reflecting the continued progress that the group has made.
‘We have benefited from our scale as the largest car retailer in the UK combined with our success in driving performance through our operational initiatives. The results of our used car operations have been particularly pleasing, with outperformance against the market,’ Finn said.
Finn admits there is still work to do, however. ‘We are way off a ‘good year’ comment,’ he said. ‘There is still a lot to do.’
