Half year results put Auto Trader in fast lane

Second half earnings have been motoring at Auto Trader Group, seven months after the classifieds publisher listed.

The company - which went for a public listing in March via a £2bn initial public offering - announced on Friday that revenue was up 8% on the previous period to £138.2m, with reported operating profit growing by 23% to £82.9m in the six months to 27 September.

The firm’s basic earnings per share from continuing operations increased more than sixfold – from 0.95p in the first half, to 5.98p.

Auto Trader also managed to reduce its next external debt by £70.5m to £457.4m. The company reported this as a reduction in leverage from 3.4x to 2.7x.

"We continue to grow our audience of car buyers and develop products to add value to our retailers, helping them remain competitive and make informed decisions based on real-time market data, allowing them to buy and sell the right stock at the right price”, Auto Trader chief executive Trevor Mather said.

"We believe there is substantial opportunity to grow the business based on the increasing importance of the internet for automotive advertising, and the growing use of data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the industry."

Auto Trader Group will pay its maiden interim dividend in January 2016, of 0.5p per share.