Shares in car retailer Inchcape soared by nearly 10 per cent after a trading statement revealed a much healthier balance sheet, with debts slashed by three quarters to £100m .
IC TIP:
Hold
at
17pp
That said, sales of new vehicles were still very weak - despite government-funded scrappage schemes, total sales for the year to May were down 22.6 per cent in constant currency.
The group's market share is holding firm, though. In Australia, for instance, Inchcape recorded a record market share of 4.3 per cent, while the company outperformed the wider UK market, which saw sales fall 28 per cent against Inchcape's 21 per cent drop. Management also said that markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia are still profitable, despite significantly weaker sales.
