29th Nov 2013 08:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - Car retailer Caffyns PLC Friday said that its pretax profit more than doubled in the first half of the financial year as revenues grew on the back of higher sales of both new and used cars.
Caffyns which sells and services cars from the VW group, including Skoda and Audi, as well as Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo, operates from dealerships in towns in Kent and Sussex, including Eastbourne, Brighton, Worthing, and Royal Tunbridge Wells.
It reported a pretax profit of GBP727,000 for the six months to end-September, up from GBP314,000 a year earlier as revenue increased to GBP93.4 million from GBP82.6 million. Like-for-like new car sales rose 20.8% and like-for-like used car sales were up 17.6%.
It increased its interim dividend to 6.0 pence, from 5.0p, as net cash generated from operating activities rose to GBP1.83 million compared with an outflow of GBP1.03 million a year earlier.
The company also grew its aftersales revenues 1.8%.
"Currently, the UK Market is more buoyant than in other parts of Europe and, while our new car order book is ahead of the same time last year, the outcome for the full year will be dependent on the crucial month of March 2014," the company said.
UK registration plates change in March and September each year, and March in particular, tends to be the peak month for car sales.
Caffyns shares were up 11.3% at 598 pence early Friday, one of the biggest gains on the London market.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @SteveMcGrath1
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