LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Car dealership Vertu Motors said on Thursday that trading had improved in July, with the group now in a "significantly better position" than it had originally anticipated.
Vertu said it had delivered an adjusted pre-tax profit of £7.4m last month, a marked improvement year-on-year.

However, after having incurred a pre-tax loss of £5.2m in the four months ended 30 June, Vertu stated it had only managed to eke out a year-to-date pre-tax profit of £2.2m.

The AIM-listed group highlighted that it had continued to see robust retail sales demand for both new and used car and vans in July, while fleet volumes were more subdued.

Aftersales demand continued to be "strong" and above normal levels 0 with July delivering an 11.2% year-on-year uplift in core group service gross profit.

Chief executive Robert Forrester said: "July trading continued the trends seen in June and was significantly stronger than both what we envisaged and the group's original business plan for the month.

"A robust recovery in customer demand for our vehicles and servicing has continued, aided by our investments in omnichannel retailing."

As of 0910 BST, Vertu shares were up 12.30% at 24.48p.

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