Auto Trader delivers confident outlook as first-half sales, profits rise
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Thursday 06 Nov 2025
(Sharecast News) - Shares in Auto Trader gained on Thursday after the automotive marketplace platform reported an increase in first-half revenues, and painted an upbeat picture of the new and used car markets.
The Autotrader business, which makes up the bulk of the company, saw a 5% year-on-year increase in revenues over the six months to 30 September to £296.3m, driven by retailer revenue growth related to a pricing and product event in April, which included additional products alongside a like-for-like price increase.
The other arm, vehicle rental platform Autorama, reported a 13% jump in sales to £21.4m, with vehicle deliveries up 16% over last year. As a result, group revenues were 5% higher than last year at £317.7m.
Group operating profits were up 6% at £200.1m, helped by a stronger top line, improving margins, a halving of losses at Autorama and an increase in the share of profit from joint ventures.
The company said its performance was also supported by April's launch of Co-Driver, its generative AI product that helps retailers create vehicle listings in significantly less time, which was used by more than 10,000 customs to deliver over 1m vehicle ads. It also sees a "rich future pipeline of AI opportunities to drive improved performance, efficiency and time saving for our customers".
Commenting on the results, chief executive Nathan Coe said: "In 2025, we continued our decade-long journey of creating AI-powered products that improve the buying and selling experience on Autotrader and help drive improved performance, efficiency and time-saving for our customers."
Looking ahead, Auto Trader said it was seeing strong levels of demand for used cars, with a record number of cross platform visits spent on Autotrader. Meanwhile, the new car market grew 3% over the first half, with second-half growth expected to be supported by the new EV government grant and new entrant brands.
Shares were up 1.0% at 781.4p by 0911 GMT, having gained as much as 7.0% earlier on.
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