8th Oct 2025 10:10
(Alliance News) - Vertu Motors PLC on Wednesday warmed that it could face a GBP5.5 million hit to its earnings from the cyberattack on manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, as the automotive retailer reported lower profit for the first half of the year.
Gateshead, England-based Vertu Motors said pretax profit fell 12% to GBP19.5 million in the six months to the end of August from GBP22.1 million a year before. Adjusted pretax profit was down 9.5% to GBP20.0 million from GBP22.1 million.
Revenue ticked up 1.4% to GBP2.51 billion from GBP2.47 billion, while operating expenses increased by 4.3% to GBP251.2 million from GBP240.8 million.
Vertu declared a 0.90 pence interim dividend, unchanged from the prior year.
The company said the UK new car market remains subdued against a "very low base" due to pressure from the zero emission vehicle mandate and the general consumer environment.
Vertu said it experienced "significant disruption" at its 10 JLR dealerships following the cyberattack at the carmaker.
It expects a one-off hit to adjusted pretax profit for the 2026 financial year of up to GBP5.5 million, depending on the timing of a full restoration of JLR systems and normal trading.
The firm said its September trading result was reduced by GBP2.0 million due to the JLR disruption. "There has been a progressive easing of the disruption in recent days," Vertu added on Wednesday.
"The group holds an insurance policy which includes business interruption coverage for third-party outages and is currently working with its insurance brokers and insurers to assess a claim," it said.
Excluding the impact of the JLR cyberattack, Vertu said it expects underlying pretax profit for the full year to be in line with market expectations.
It said the current consensus is for adjusted pretax profit of GBP27.2 million, with a range between GBP26.5 million and GBP27.5 million.
Vertu reported adjusted pretax profit of GBP29.3 million for financial 2025.
September trading profit was ahead of the prior year, excluding the JLR impact, it said.
Like-for-like new retail vehicle sales were up 1.8% in September, while used vehicle sale volumes on a like-for-like basis climbed 5.8%.
"The group has performed well despite continued upheaval in the new car market due to the government's policy to electrify the UK car parc. We have delivered market share gains in every area as the group trades under the single Vertu brand for the first time. We were particularly pleased to see further growth in our [battery electric vehicle] retail market share," said Chief Executive Robert Forrester.
"It was disappointing for the industry to face major disruption across the JLR network following a cyber-attack on the manufacturer during the key plate-change month of September...Whilst the situation is fluid, it appears to be easing in recent days."
Shares in Vertu Motors were down 1.3% at 59.11 pence in London on Wednesday morning.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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