7:39 am, April 20, 2022
Used car supermarket Motorpoint has sold and leased back its Stockton branch for £5m.
In an update to the London Stock Exchange this morning (Apr 20), the company said the sale and leaseback of the site on Yarm Road, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, netted £5m, excluding VAT.
At the same time, Motorpoint which came 13th in our latest Top 100 of the UK’s most profitable car dealers – has agreed a 25-year lease (with tenant only break points) at an initial rental of £350,000 per annum.
The sale and leaseback has resulted in no gain or loss for Motorpoint Group, the statement said.
The sale and leaseback will, however, be invested to support Motorpoint’s medium-term strategy objectives, said independent investment group Shore Capital, namely doubling group revenue to more than £2bn, increasing online revenue by £600m to more than £1bn and generating an EBITDA margin of three to four per cent.
The company also revealed that it has reached an agreement with its lenders to increase its available stocking facility by £30m.
It means Motorpoint’s stocking facility is now £195m, up from £106m at FY22 half-year, ‘providing enhanced vehicle buying flexibility’, it said.
Motorpoint CEO Mark Carpenter said: ‘We are pleased to have agreed both the sale and leaseback of our Stockton branch and a further increase in our stocking facilities.
‘Both transactions provide further firepower for us to invest in future growth strategies across multiple initiatives in line with our strategy.’
Earlier this month, Motorpoint said it was expecting revenue to top £1.32bn for the year ending March 31, 2022.
Commenting on the announcements, Shore Capital said: ‘We reiterate our view that Motorpoint is well placed for the medium to long term, with a strong management team and a bold, but achievable medium-term omnichannel strategy that builds on already considerable and well-established capabilities in both site based and online retailing.’
