Vertu Motors plc who operate the Bristol Street Motors, Farnell and Macklin Motors brands, have issued their annual report for the year ended February 29 2016, with CEO Robert Forrester talking about strong aftersales and used vehicle performance driving the group’s profitability and an appetite for growth by further acquisitions.
Key highlights:
• Total revenues increased by 21.5% with like-for-like revenues increasing by 8.4%.
• Group and like-for-like gross margins improved due to higher used car and service margins.
• Group’s aftersales operations continued to grow strongly with service revenues up 25.6% in the Period, an increase of 6.1% on a like-for-like basis.
• Strong used vehicle performance with total used vehicle volumes up 19.2%, an increase of 10.2% on a like-for-like basis.
• Majority of £35m raised in the Placing in March deployed in earnings accretive acquisitions.
Commenting on the results, CEO Robert Forrester said, “The group has had a really good year, we’ve seen record revenues and record profits. Revenue is up over 18%, partly due to acquisitions, but also due to core growth with strong new, used and aftersales growth in the period.
Looking to the future, Forrester said, “We have the ability to take on board more acquisitions, there will be both volume and premium, but we are committed to grow our premium dealerships.
Forrester concludes by saying, “With the proceeds of the capital raise we did in March, we are set with a strong pipeline of transactions to undertake in the next couple of months. We’ve just purchased Leeds Jaguar, the first of a couple of transactions that we hope to see in the next couple of weeks. As a result of that, the board are confident and that confidence shows it’s self in the over 20% growth in dividend which the board are recommending.”
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