17th Apr 2019 09:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - Car dealer Pendragon PLC said Wednesday it saw slight growth in first quarter revenue, however, challenging conditions resulted in a loss for the period.
The company also said that it will conduct a review into its operational and financial prospects as a result of challenging trading in the first quarter.
For the three months to the end of March, Pendragon's total revenue rose by 1.2% on the back of strong growth in new car and aftersales divisions. Total revenue for the used car segment fell marginally during the period.
On a like-for-like basis, quarterly revenue rose by 4.6% on a like-for-like basis, buoyed by like-for-like rise of 6.3% and 5.5% in new car and aftersales segment, respectively. Like-for-like sales for the used car division grew 2.9%.
The company said challenging trading conditions reduced margins and in turn led to a fall in gross profit in all business segments. This, combined with higher operating costs and losses within Car Store due to the continued development of the business led to an underlying pretax loss of GBP2.8 million in the quarter, Pendragon added.
The pretax loss figure, Pendragon said, was GBP10 million lower than management expectations for the period.
Shares in Pendragon were down 5.6% at 23.74 pence on Wednesday.
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PDG.L