Toyota and Lexus retailer Steven Eagell enjoyed a record 14 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £9.8m in 2019.
Accounts for the year ending December 31 just published on the Companies House website (Feb 3) also show that its turnover went up by five per cent to £448m and gross profit was up by 11 per cent to £68m – both records as well.
And despite the pandemic, the board says it expects 2020 to be even more profitable, thanks to measures such as service plans and finance renewal software as well as adding to its number of technicians.
Its EBITDA was calculated by dealer profitability experts ASE Global as being £12.6m, which would have put it in 19th place in our inaugural Top 100 of the most profitable car dealers.
ASE Global chairman Mike Jones, who helped compile the list, told Car Dealer today (Feb 3): ‘This is a strong set of results for Steven Eagell, with new acquisitions successfully integrated to produce an overall EBITDA for the year of £12.6m.
‘This sees the group fall just inside the top 20 in our Top 100 list for 2019, which shows the results that can be achieved through the concentration on a limited number of brands.’
In the report – dated December 11, 2020 and signed off by director David Sherriff – the board says it is ‘very pleased with this performance’, especially because of Brexit fears affecting trading conditions and WLTP impacting on new vehicle supply.
It hailed ‘a resilient performance’, with just a third of profits attributed to new car sales and the rest coming from aftersales and used car sales.
The two per cent drop in new car sales in 2019 was caused mainly by a drop in diesel purchases linked to WLTP supply restrictions – something that didn’t affect Steven Eagell since diesel passenger vehicles don’t feature in the Toyota and Lexus range.
Although the pandemic caused new car sales to drop by 29.4 per cent in 2020, the group, which was founded in Milton Keynes in 2002 and now has 30 dealerships across 10 counties in England, said trading since reopening in June had been ‘buoyant’.
As such, and despite the second spike in cases, it said it remained confident that 2020 would be even more profitable than 2019.
In March last year, the company bought two Lexus and four Toyota sites in the Midlands from Vantage Motor Group, all of which are expected to add to its predicted profit rise for the year.
Meanwhile, in September, its King’s Lynn showroom was moved to a purpose-built Toyota dealership to include used Lexus cars and servicing.
Pictured via Google Street View is Steven Eagell Toyota in Milton Keynes
