Car dealer Inchcape (INCH) delivered a solid full-year performance, helped by strong Asia Pacific growth and tight cost control. Underlying pre-tax profit rose 10 per cent in 2012 to £250.3m and the dividend payout ratio was boosted to 40 per cent from 30 per cent - meaning a hefty dividend hike.
In North Asia, trading profit jumped 23.6 per cent to £52.8m, while margins there expanded 50 basis points to 10.2 per cent. Meanwhile, trading recovered in South Asia following disruption from the Japanese earthquake and flooding in Thailand - trading profit there rose 32.4 per cent to £35.1m. Australasia's trading profit grew 20.8 per cent to £67.2m, with the Subaru division having sold 18 per cent more vehicles than in 2011. Inchcape also boosted its presence in this market through the £78m acquisition of Australia's Trivett Automotive. Even the UK saw growth and trading profit here rose rose 8 per cent to £65.2m. Although European trading profit slipped 25.2 per cent to £16.8m as conditions deteriorated in Belgium and Greece. While fierce competition and weakened consumer demand hit the Russian and emerging markets division - trading profit there dropped 18.2 per cent to £43m.
Broker Investec Securities expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £270.1m for 2013, giving adjusted EPS of 42p (from 39.1p in 2012).
| INCHCAPE (INCH) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 519p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.42bn | |
| TOUCH: | 517-520p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 533p | LOW: 304p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.8% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 318p* | NET CASH: | £276m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 6.26 | 108 | 1.90 | 0.9 |
| 2009 | 5.58 | 137 | 22.9 | nil |
| 2010 | 5.89 | 192 | 27.9 | 6.6 |
| 2011 | 5.83 | 203 | 31.0 | 11.0 |
| 2012 | 6.09 | 252 | 40.0 | 14.5 |
| % change | +4 | +24 | +29 | +32 |
Ex-div: 22 May Payment: 19 Jun *Includes intangible assets of £560m, or 120p a share | ||||
