16th Jan 2014 11:02
LONDON (Alliance News) - Cambria Automobiles PLC Thursday said its trading performance in the first four months of its financial year has been substantially ahead of the same months last year, thanks to a 11.4% increase in registrations of new cars.
The car retailer with 27 dealerships, mainly in southeast and northwest England, said new vehicle sales were up 21.9% on the year, and 12% on a like-for-like basis. Sales of used vehicles were up 9.5% on the year, or 2.9% on a like-for-like basis. Margins stayed strong, it said, while the profitability of its aftersales operations, like car servicing and repair, was up 4.5% on the year.
"The board expects the interim results for the six months to 28 February 2014 to be significantly ahead of the prior year and views the outlook for the remainder of the financial year with confidence," it said in a statement ahead of its annual general meeting.
Cambria sells brands including Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Chrysler Jeep, Citroen, Dacia, Ford, Fiat, Honda, Jaguar, Mazda, Nissan, Renault, Seat, Vauxhall, and Volvo.
The UK car market performed strongly in 2013, aided by the economic recovery and as customers decided to spend money they got back from banks from miss-selling of payment protection insurance on new cars.
Cambria reported a pretax profit of GBP1.6 million in the first half of its last financial year, up from GBP1.1 million a year earlier, and revenues of GBP179.1 million, up from GBP166.9 million.
Its shares were up 1.9% at 54.00 pence Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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