4th Aug 2015 07:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in vehicle retailer Pendragon PLC were up in early trade on Tuesday after the company said its anticipated outcome for the full year is comfortably ahead of its expectations as pretax profit and revenue both rose in the first half.
Pendragon said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June nearly doubled to GBP60.8 million from GBP33.2 million as revenue rose to GBP2.29 billion from GBP2.07 billion. On a like-for-like basis, revenue was up by 13% in the half on the back of improved revenue for its used and new vehicles and for its aftersales services.
On the back of the rise in profit, the group said it will pay a 0.6 pence interim dividend, double the payout it made for the same period in 2014 and level with the entire dividend payout it made in its last financial year.
"We plan to expand our footprint, by adding sites particularly in areas where we have no representation, which will provide further convenience to our customers. We have doubled our interim dividend in the period, aligning to our higher year dividend for 2014. The Group has had an encouraging start to the year and our anticipated outturn for the full year is comfortably ahead of expectations," said Chief Executive Trevor Finn.
Pendragon shares were up 4.5% to 40.75 pence on the news, one of the best performers in the FTSE All-Share in early trade.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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