30th Apr 2026 11:26
(Alliance News) - Inchcape PLC on Thursday said it was on track to meet guidance after reporting first quarter sales growth amid mixed regional performances.
The London-based automobile distributor said revenue grew 8% to GBP2.3 billion in the first quarter from GBP2.1 billion a year ago, or by 6% on an organic basis, driven by distribution contract wins and market share gains.
By geography, Americas delivered "strong growth", with supportive market conditions, while Europe & Africa saw another quarter of market outperformance, offsetting a "weaker" performance in Asia Pacific.
APAC saw "on-going implementation of management actions to address challenges", including an increasingly competitive Australian market, Inchcape noted.
There has been no direct impact from the Middle East crisis on Inchcape to date, although the firm flagged some immaterial disruption to logistics in Europe & Africa. Consumer demand has so far remained unchanged.
Inchcape highlighted two distribution contract wins in the period, Volvo in Ecuador and Deepal in Barbados, and an "active" pipeline of bolt-on acquisitions.
The company confirmed its full-year guidance for earnings per share growth of more than 10%.
This will be driven by organic volume growth towards lower end of the 3% to 5% guidance range, operating margins of around 6% and free cash flow conversion of around 100%.
Performance is expected to weighted towards the second half of the year.
Shares in Inchcape were up 1.6% at 825.60 pence each in London on Thursday.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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