Strong sales of new and used cars amid signs of recovery in the automotive market helped car dealer Pendragon (PDG) to grow underlying pre-tax profit 18 per cent during 2012 to £36.4m - beating analysts' consensus expectations in the process.
Indeed, in a flat market, Pendragon's used vehicle volumes rose 7 per cent on like-for-like basis and the used car margin rose from 9.6 per cent to 9.9 per cent. Moreover, new car volumes increased 11 per cent - although the margin here did slip slightly to 7.8 per cent. Chief executive Trevor Finn attributed much of that volume growth to the internet and visitors to the group's websites rose 18 per cent year-on-year, and by 87 per cent in the past three years. "This market has gone online," said Mr Finn. "The internet is becoming the car showroom."
The group's aftersales business, meanwhile - which generates 60 per cent of group profit - also looks in reasonable enough shape. True, like-for-like retail labour sales here were flat and a higher proportion of older cars in the marketplace has hit earnings - but the unit's profit margin still rose from 59.2 per cent to 61.1 per cent.
Broker Jefferies expects adjusted pre-tax profit for 2013 of £41.4m, giving adjusted EPS of 2.3p (from 2p in 2012).
| PENDRAGON (PDG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 21.3p | MARKET VALUE: | £306m | |
| TOUCH: | 20.8-21.3p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 23.3p | LOW: 11.5p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.47% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 17p* | NET DEBT: | 79% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 4.16 | -201 | -25.2 | 0.5 |
| 2009 | 3.19 | 1.30 | 0.10 | nil |
| 2010 | 3.58 | 11.0 | 0.60 | nil |
| 2011 | 3.47 | 24.0 | 3.70 | nil |
| 2012 | 3.64 | 37.8 | 1.90 | 0.1 |
| % change | +5 | +58 | -49 | - |
Ex-div: tba Payment: tba *Includes intangible assets of £373m or 26p a share | ||||
