10:13 am, November 15, 2024
The CEO of one of Ireland’s most prominent dealer groups has increased his stake in Vertu Motors.
Gavin Hydes, the boss of Joe Duffy Motors, has increased his stake in the Car Dealer Top 100 retailer to around £10m, taking his overall share to 5%.
He previously owned 4.1% of Vertu and has been building his investment in the UK firm over recent years.
Hydes investment comes through his Irish company, Nivag Holdings. He also controls Joe Duffy Motors via Nivag, as well as shares held directly in his name.
A submission made via the London Stock Exchange yesterday (Nov 14) revealed that Nivag now holds 16,662,838 voting rights in Vertu.
Hydes first took an interest in Vertu in November 2023 with a 3.3% holding in the company, which was established in 2006 to acquire and consolidate UK motor retail businesses.
There are now 188 franchised and non-franchised Vertu dealerships in the UK, operating as Vertu Motors, Bristol Street Motors and – in Scotland – Macklin Motors.
The firm recently announced that is will be scrapping the Bristol Street Motors and Macklin names, in favour of rebranding all its sites under the Vertu banner.
In its most recent accounts to February 2024, Vertu reported revenue of £4.72bn and an adjusted pre-tax profit of £37.8m. Last month, the group said its revenue for Q3 2024 had declined 2.9% to £2.49bn, while its adjusted pre-tax profit was down 25pc to £23.5m.
Last year Joe Duffy Motors reported revenue of €583m and a pre-tax profit of €38m. That compared to €545m and €36.5m respectively the year before.
