10:49 am, April 1, 2025
Saxton 4×4 made losses of almost £4m last year after profits were wiped out in a ‘challenging’ period for the business.
The firm, which bills itself as Europe’s largest used Land Rover, SUV and luxury car dealership, posted a pre-tax loss of £3.76m in the 12 months to the end of June 2024.
The result represents a collapse of 172% when compared to the £5.18m profit the outfit made in 2023.
Turnover was also down 19.2% on the previous year, with revenue dropping from £250.43m to £202.19m.
Bosses have put the struggles down to the economic climate, a severe market correction and increasing operating costs, as well as pointing to the impact of ‘volatility’ in the EV market.
Throughout the year, Saxton invested heavily in EV charging stations as part of a drive to ‘develop its environmental plans and support’.
The result – which is the Essex-based company’s first ever pre-tax loss – will see the outfit drop out of the Car Dealer Top 100 list of most profitable dealers, having finished in 79th position last year.
Despite the rough set of results, director Alan Austin has insisted that things remain strong in the long-term.
‘The trading performance of the company showed a downturn from the previous year, with a revenue dropping to finish at £202.2m.’ he said in a statement included in the accounts, submitted to Companies House.
‘Operational plans to scale up growth and sales volume, continued with further freehold purchases and development of existing sites, to ensure that Saxton 4×4 remains market leader in their sector and continues with prestige vehicle sales on a supermarket volume.
‘It was a challenging year for the industry as a whole, mainly due to the economic climate, a severe market correction and increasing operating costs, which led us posting our first financial loss.
‘However, we remain confident that our strategic investments will yield positive results and support long term sustainable growth.
‘The volatile EV market represented a large percentage of the losses, other factors were rising interest rates and insurance spike on premium vehicle policies.
‘Management continues to review operational and structural costs in several areas to improve efficiencies, focusing on new systems and procedures to increase productivity.
‘Monitoring our vehicle stock and tightening controls to reduce the risk of losses arising from fluctuating market values, remains paramount.’
Elsewhere, the accounts showed that the vast majority of income (£187.45m) came from vehicle sales, down from £230.67m in 2023.
Saxton also took took less money from parts sales, with that revenue falling from £5.87 to £3.41m.
Meanwhile, the company’s average workforce rose from 164 to 174 people – with staffing costs totalling £7.04m.
Throughout the year directors’ remunerations came to £687,269, down from £851,661 in 2023.
