VERTU Motors has posted an impressive set of figures, which reveal that revenue for the first time has smashed through the £2 billion barrier.
Revenue for the year ending February 28 was £2.1bn, with profit before tax rising almost 33 per cent to £21m.
Like-for-like used-vehicle volumes rose 9.2 per cent with stronger gross profit per unit, which is the third successive year of like-for-like volume growth.
Other highlights revealed inn the report include:
- Higher margin service revenues rose 3.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis, the fifth year in a row there has been growth;
- Higher customer retention rates in service with more than 71,000 (2014: 55,397) customers on Group service plans, compared ti 55,397 customers the year before;
- Like-for-like new retail sales volumes rose by 6.4 per cent as the UK new-car market continued to expand;
- Adjusted operating profit was up 26.8 per cent.
In the past year, 14 new outlets were acquired or opened, bringing the total to 116.
The new financial year has also started strongly, with Vertu revealing trading performance is ahead of schedule and ‘significantly ahead’ of previous years.
It said its like-for-like new retail sales volumes in March and April were up 4.3 per cent, compared to the UK private registrations figure of 2.7 per cent, which it said represented ‘significant outperformance’ by the group.
Robert Forrester, the chief executive of Vertu, said: ‘The group is delivering a strong trading performance driven through its successful acquisition growth strategy and improvements in its underlying organic performance. Many businesses within the dealership portfolio in the group have the potential to achieve enhanced margins.
‘We have substantial funds and financial capacity for further expansion and continue to see attractive acquisition opportunities.’
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