8:23 am, January 7, 2025
Steven Eagell Group has seen its profits cut in half despite turnover topping £1bn for the first time in its latest set of annual accounts.
Documents published via Companies House show that Europe’s biggest Toyota and Lexus dealership group made a pre-tax profit of £14.98m in the 12 months to the end of December 2023.
The figure represents a 48.6% drop off on the previous year, when Steven Eagell Holdings made a record profit before tax of £29.16m.
The slide is in line with other results seen across the automotive industry and bosses have described the group’s performance as ‘resilient’.
Despite the blow, the accounts do reveal record revenues for the Car Dealer Top 100 group, which turned over an astonishing £1.04bn in 2023, compared to the its previous record of £840.67m, achieved in 2022.
The vast majority of the increased turnover came from the sale of goods – namely new and used cars – which brought in an impressive £985.76m.
Meanwhile, the rendering of services raised an additional £56.17m and commissions £2.46m.
Elsewhere, directors declared a dividend of £3.98m for 2023 following a £12.7m dividend in 2022.
When it came to staff, the group’s average workforce rose from 1,181 to 1,473 with wages and salaries increasing 8.6% to £45.93m.
The year also saw the group acquire nine Toyota dealerships and three Lexus sites from Marshall Motor Group, located around the West Midlands, Kent and Sussex.
Bosses say that the dealerships, bought in June 2023, have now been successfully integrated into the company’s portfolio with ‘promising early signs’.
Speaking about the falling profits in the accounts, boss Steven Eagell, said: ‘Whilst this is lower than the previous year, the board feels that this was a resilient performance, taking into account increased interest, energy and administrative costs and used car provisions due to the significant market drop in values.
‘There were also significant extraordinary costs incurred, relating to the acquisition of 12 dealerships.
The board feels that the group has achieved a resilient performance with only one third of profits attributed to the sale of new cars and the rest to used car sales and aftersales.
‘In June 2023, 12 dealerships were acquired from Marshall Motor Group (9 Toyota & 3 Lexus) comprising of three territories; West Midlands, Kent and Sussex.
‘These established businesses have been successfully integrated into the company’s portfolio with promising early signs.’
The group ended the year with net assets of £57.1m and cash totalling £3.1m.
