11th May 2006 07:01
Inchcape PLC11 May 2006 11 May 2006 Inchcape AGM Trading Statement In his statement to shareholders at today's Annual General Meeting, PeterJohnson, Chairman of Inchcape plc, will make the following comments aboutcurrent trading: "The Company is performing in line with our expectations as set out in theresults announcement on 6 March 2006. "In Australia market conditions have remained strong and Subaru continues toenjoy market share progression. "Greece and Belgium have enjoyed a good start to the year and both markets arebenefiting from the new Yaris and RAV4. "The Hong Kong market remains challenging. However, the business should benefitfrom the new Camry and Previa models. "In Singapore, as previously indicated, the market is expected to be around 4.0%below the exceptional level of 2005. "In the UK, our retail business has enjoyed a very encouraging start to 2006with strong revenue growth and margin improvement. "The recently announced acquisition of Lind Automotive Group further increasesthe scale of our UK retail activity both geographically and in terms of brandpartners, and brings our UK retail revenues close to £2bn. "In our other markets we look forward to another successful year, particularlyas we leverage the growth opportunities in the Balkans and Baltics. "Inchcape continues to benefit from its broad geographic spread and strong focuson operational excellence. We remain well placed to deliver further growth andstrong cash generation." Notes to editors You can view the accompanying AGM slides and speeches from approximately 1230hrstoday by visiting our website, www.inchcape.com, and selecting 'Presentations'. The results of the AGM resolutions will also be available today from 1600hrs. Toview the announcement, please visit our website, www.inchcape.com, and selectthe 'News Desk'. For further information, please contact: Group Communications, Inchcape plc 020 7546 0022 Hogarth Partnership Limited (John Olsen/Barnaby Fry) 020 7357 9477 Inchcape is a scale automotive retail group operating in Australia, Belgium,Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. The Group also has operations in anumber of other global markets. In addition to growing our core businesses, weare looking to develop scale operations in new and emerging regions. Werepresent leading automotive brands and operate either a retail, or a verticallyintegrated retail model (i.e. exclusive distribution and retail), depending onthe market. Our current key manufacturer partners are Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, BMW,the Premier Automotive Group of Ford, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi andHonda. For further information, visit us at www.inchcape.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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