Strong demand boosts profits at car dealership Inchcape

Car dealership Inchcape posted a rise in full-year profit on Thursday as it highlighted strong demand, and announced a £100m share buyback programme.

Pre-tax profit for 2021 came in at £296m, up from £128m the year before, with revenue 12% higher at £7.6bn.

Inchcape said its performance was strong, with revenues almost back to pre-pandemic levels on a comparable basis. It also said that while the pandemic continued to cause disruption across the globe, the impact on the company was less pronounced than in 2020.

"The widely reported global supply-chain issues had a more pronounced impact in the second half. The demand for vehicles and aftersales remained strong throughout the period, which created a supply-demand imbalance, and led to higher gross margins and profitability," it said.

Inchcape proposed a dividend of 22.5p a share, up from 6.9p in 2020, and announced a new £100m share buyback programme to be completed over the next 12 months.

Chief executive Duncan Tait said: "Inchcape delivered a strong set of FY21 results, with improved performance across all regions. The combination of robust consumer demand and excellent operational execution, against the backdrop of supply shortages, drove our top-line recovery and higher margins, enabling profits to rebound to pre-pandemic levels."