Pendragon posts jump in first-half profit

Pendragon reported a jump in first-half pre-tax profit and said it does not expect to see any material impact from the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

In its interim results to the end of June, the FTSE 250 car dealership chain said underlying pre-tax profit rose 9.7% to £3.9m, as revenue grew 1.5% to £2.3bn thanks to increased contributions from the used vehicle departments.

The group said web visits to Evanshalshaw.com and Stratstone.com increased by 13.1% in the period, with 21.6m visitors over the 12 months to the 30 June 2016.

Chief executive Trevor Finn said: “The underlying trends in the aftersales and used vehicle markets provide a strong tailwind. Our performance is due to our focused strategy, the online growth of our brands and strong processes, helped by the launch of 'Move Me Closer' and 'Sell Your Car'.”

The company said that although the Brexit vote has caused some uncertainty, it has not seen any noticeable change to date in its customers' behaviour and does not expect any material effect on new vehicle pricing as a result of exchange rates.

“Our underlying market dynamics and our winning strategy are favourable for the group. The group has a strong balance sheet and capital allocation strategy and we remain well positioned for another strong year. We anticipate our performance for 2016 will be in line with expectations.”

At 0816 BST, Pendragon shares were up 2.8% to 31.95p.