7:16 am, October 1, 2022
Used car supermarket behemoth Car Giant has posted £29m of underlying pre-tax profit for last year.
The one-site supermarket based in north-west London – which ranks 11th in the Car Dealer Top 100 with an EBITDA of £29.01m – revealed in its latest annual accounts that it managed to sell 30,000 cars in 2021.
Despite this number being down on the year before – in 2020 it sold 32,900 cars – increased margins on those used models saw Car Giant’s pre-tax profit increase to £29m from £27.2m the year before.
After tax, the used car dealership banked £23,494,681 – but directors decided not to declare a dividend.
Revenue for the group was down slightly on the year before at £362.6m – in 2020, it brought in £368.4m.
In 2021, the group made a margin of 8.2 per cent.
‘The company continues to focus on customer service and product quality,’ said directors in the accounts, just filed at Companies House.
‘We continue to offer the most comprehensive range of cars in the UK with up to 7,000 cars in stock, of which 1,800 cars are on display at our showroom in north-west London.’
Car Giant employs 562 staff at the site and rents out some of its land to small local businesses, with the accounts showing 96 per cent occupancy.
Nearly £16m was brought in from renting property.
The dealer said it believes it has a ‘competitive advantage’ because its ‘entire processing and retail operations are within one giant location’.
‘Our centralised operations enable us to maximise efficiency to deliver the best-quality cars at market-leading prices,’ said directors.
Car Giant is also planning on expanding soon at its current site.
‘The company has extensive development plans to further modernise and expand our facilities,’ it explained in its annual accounts.
‘The 45-acre Car Giant site has been designated in the new local plan as strategic industrial land with emphasis on expansion due to its immediate proximity to the new HS2 interchange at Old Oak Common.
‘The designation will allow our long-awaited expansion to take place.’
Car Giant received £2.6m of government grants in 2021, the accounts report.
Key management – directors and senior managers – were paid a total of £2.9m during the year, while shareholder funds in Car Giant stood at £410m in 2021, up from £386m in 2020.
Image: Yui Mok/PA Archive/PA Images
