10:32 am, August 21, 2026
Dealer group Vines has posted a hefty loss for 2025, amid falling new car margins and challenging trading environments.
Documents recently filed via Companies House show that the Guildford-based retailer made a pre-tax loss of £715,798 in the 12 months to the end of December 2025.
The result represents a slide of more than £1.24m compared to 2024’s figures, when the BMW and Mini specialist posted a profit-before-tax of £525,550.
Despite this, bosses were keen to point out that the firm did make a profit of £132,893 after tax, although this was largely as a result of a substantial tax credit.
Elsewhere, the firm’s turnover dipped from £212.84m to £210.74m, despite overall vehicle sales rising by 4.3% to 6,239 units.
The accounts show that new vehicle sales were particularly strong, rising 10.6% from 2,507 to 2,772 cars, while used vehicle volumes were broadly unchanged at 3,467.
Directors say that revenues were hit significantly by Mini’s switch to agency sales, which drained an estimated £14.5m from the final figures.
Meanwhile, operating profit margins fell from 0.81% in 2024 to just 0.16% in 2025.
Commenting on the period, boss Sean Kelly said: ‘The shift to electrification continued, supported by manufacturers’ strategies and regulatory targets.
‘However, private demand for battery electric vehicles remained uneven, with many retail customers still choosing petrol and hybrid options.
‘This gap between mandated supply and underlying consumer demand continued to weigh on prices and margins across the sector.
‘More broadly, the sector faced continued economic uncertainty, including inflation, interest-rate volatility, and weaker consumer confidence.
‘Higher costs across labour, energy, and supply chains further intensified competition throughout the year. This volatility resulted in the business delivering a loss in quarter four and hence a loss before tax for full year 2025.
‘In response the business has implemented a wide ranging operational change programme, including changes in senior management personnel across all centres.
‘The early indicators are that this programme is delivering improvements in performance and we expect the business to return to profit in 2026.’
Despite the loss, Vines remains in a strong financial position going forward, ending the year with £15.95m of net assets, compared to £15.82m at the end of 2024.
Across the period, the size of firm’s workforce dropped by one employee, to an average of 309, while staffing costs rose to £15.33m. At the same time, directors’ remuneration fell from £609,070 to £518,000.
No dividend was paid during the year, compared with £562,500 in 2024.
Kelly previously appeared on the panel at Car Dealer Podcast Live in 2024. You can listen to the full episode below: