Cheap deals help to drive Pendragon sales
BRITISH car dealer group Pendragon’s profits are set to rise 15.7 per cent to £44 million, mirroring strong sales figures in the wider UK car market, analysts say.
On Tuesday the firm is due to present its full-year results and City analysts are forecasting revenues of £3.9 billion, an 8.3 per cent increase on the same period the previous year.
The owner of car showroom chain Evans Halshaw and the upmarket Stratstone brand should benefit from “the market backdrop of improving new car sales, a robust used-car market and a large after-sales market”, according to City broker Panmure Gordon.
The broker adds that it expects Pendragon’s Quicks used-car sales and servicing brand to remain loss-making, although it should show some improvement on last year. The firm is also expected to provide an update on sales at its online operations.
The UK car industry association the SMMT said that the new-car market grew 7.6 per cent in January, continuing a trend of strong growth seen in 2013. Last year attractive financing offers and PPI mis-selling compensation payouts helped fuel a 10.8 per cent increase in new-car sales, the best performance in five years.
Pendragon’s Stratstone business sells high-end cars manufactured by BMW, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.
