Auto Trader’s (AUTO) revenue streams have been hit badly by the cessation of normal commercial activity, but the website promptly took steps to support its customers, including a 25 per cent discount for vehicle retailers during June. But with visitors and enquiries rebounding to record levels, management said today that it plans to return to full rates from 1 July.
The group’s revenue growth in 2020 was driven by its Retailer segment, supported by Consumer Services in Private and Motoring Services. This was held back by falls in Manufacturer and Agency & Home Trader, which management partly blamed on Brexit uncertainty and some customers moving to subscription advertising packages. Nevertheless, operating profit still grew by 6 per cent.
Audience engagement was strong in the year, with cross platform visits per month up 3 per cent to 50.8m. The group has maintained its dominance in the industry, holding three quarters of the time spent by consumers on automotive platforms.
In order to conserve cash, Auto Trader has not announced a final dividend for the year and deferred VAT payments of £18.4m as at June 2020. Management announced in March that it had suspended its share buy-back programme.
Broker Peel Hunt forecasts adjusted EPS of 12.7p and pre-tax profits £151m for March 2021, rising to 24.1p and £284m in FY2022.
| AUTO TRADER (AUTO) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 519p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 5.01bn | |
| TOUCH: | 506-523p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 612p | LOW: 309p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.5% | PE RATIO: | 23 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 15p* | NET DEBT: | £282m** | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 282 | 155 | 12.7 | 1.5 |
| 2017 | 311 | 193 | 15.6 | 5.2 |
| 2018 | 330 | 211 | 17.7 | 5.9 |
| 2019 | 355 | 242 | 21.0 | 6.7 |
| 2020 | 369 | 252 | 22.2 | 2.4 |
| % change | +4 | +4 | +6 | -64 |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £342m or 35p a share **Includes lease liabilities of £9.1m | ||||
