A double-digit rise in new car registrations through April followed a year of successive monthly declines, but the turnaround has largely been written off as anomalous by industry analysts. Hardly an ideal backdrop for the release of Vertu Motors’ (VTU) full-year figures, but company bosses are confident that conditions are set to improve, although you're left wondering whether hope has simply given way to misplaced optimism.
The reasons why auto sales slumped have been well documented in these pages, although certain factors, most notably the knock-on effects of the 'diesel-gate' scandal, have yet to fully play out. Nevertheless, Vertu started to outperform the wider market during the first two months of its new financial year: a 2.6 per cent decline in like-for-like new car volumes compared with a wider 8.8 per cent annualised decline in April, while market share grew across several divisions, including fleet and commercial.
Analysts at Canaccord Genuity expect pre-tax profit of £26.6m for the year ending February 2019, giving EPS of 5.5p, compared with £28.6m and 5.7p in FY2018.
| VERTU MOTORS (VTU) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 49.6p | MARKET VALUE: | £188m | |
| TOUCH: | 49.6-49.9p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 52p | LOW: 40p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3% | PE RATIO: | 8 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 70p* | NET CASH: | £19.3m | |
| Year to 28 Feb | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 1.68 | 15.8 | 4.2 | 0.8 |
| 2015 | 2.07 | 21.0 | 4.9 | 1.1 |
| 2016 | 2.42 | 26.0 | 6.1 | 1.3 |
| 2017 | 2.82 | 29.8 | 6.1 | 1.4 |
| 2018 | 2.80 | 30.4 | 6.3 | 1.5 |
| % change | -1 | +2 | +3 | +7 |
| Ex-div: | 21 Jun | |||
| Payment: | 30 Jul | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £95.7m or 25p a share | ||||
