Pendragon chief government Invoice Berman has stated that an anticipated £33 million underlying first-half pre-tax revenue will give the automotive retail PLC “good momentum” for H2 2022.
A buying and selling replace printed by way of the London Inventory Change this morning (July 20) revealed that the group expects its profitability to say no by round 5.9%, regardless of its sturdy begin to the yr, nevertheless.
The AM100 group stated its efficiency had been offset by a rise in underlying working prices of roughly £20m, together with an £8.3m impression from the elimination of presidency assist, a £7m enhance in advertising and marketing prices because it relaunched its CarStore used car retail division and wider inflationary value pressures.
The interval to June 30 noticed Pendragon’s Automotive Retailer operations develop with a CarStore Experience Centre concept in Chesterfield and an expanded community of small-scale Car Store Direct retail sites at Homebase stores and Morrisons supermarkets throughout the UK.
Reflecting on the group’s progress in H1, Berman stated: “After a robust H1 ’22, Pendragon carries good momentum going into the second half of the yr.
“Whereas challenges persist within the type of new and used car provide, we’re assured that the progress we’re making towards our strategic initiatives offers us with a robust platform to navigate this era efficiently.
“I wish to thank all of our associates for his or her continued laborious work and dedication in serving to us to ship our long-term ambitions.”
There was no point out within the treading replace of Pendragon’s plan to re-write its remuneration insurance policies following a shareholder revolt against its leadership bonuses at its AGM final month.
It revealed, nevertheless, that new car volumes had continued to be impacted by provide constraints, with emphasis positioned on maximising margin per unit and strengthening the already sturdy order financial institution because of this.
The replace added: “New gross revenue per unit is increased yr on yr and greater than outperformed the quantity shortfalls.
“Used car volumes have been additionally down yr on yr as provide constraints from decrease new automotive manufacturing continued to have a knock-on impression on used automotive availability.
“Used gross revenue per unit additionally remained sturdy; though, as anticipated, this has been decrease than the distinctive ranges seen in H2 FY21.”
Pendragon stated that its aftersales income and profitability have been each increased than the prior yr.
Summarising its outlook for the rest of 2022, Pendragon stated its board was conscious of the challenges to each new and used car provide and softening shopper sentiment, however added: “We consider our market-leading proposition and mixture of enterprise fashions means we stay resilient within the face of those challenges and we proceed to count on to ship group underlying revenue earlier than tax according to board expectations.”