Nottingham-headquartered car retailer Pendragon has delivered a strong trading performance in Q3 2022 with robust margins and impressive new car sales, despite new vehicle volumes elsewhere continuing to be impacted by reduced supply.
Pendragon appears to have outperformed the market with new units up 14.2% in the quarter and new margins also remaining strong, with gross profit per unit (“GPU”) of £2,597 up £743 compared to Q3 FY21.
In airport to the London Stock Exchange, the listed company reported that aftersales revenue and gross margin were both higher than in the prior year, with revenue up 5.0%, margin rate up to 51.7% (Q3 FY21: 50.3%) and gross profit up 7.8% as a result. The strong performance in new cars and aftersales broadly offset the lower used car volume and anticipated decline in used car margins.
Overall, underlying profit before tax was £14.7m (Q3 FY21: £25.1m).
Bill Berman, Chief Executive of Pendragon PLC, comments: “We are pleased with the performance in Q3 FY22 and remain confident in delivering progress towards our long term goals. While we continue to expect both new and used vehicle supply shortfalls for the last quarter of FY22 and into 2023, the new car order bank remains well above historic normal levels at over 20,000 at the end of September. The economic backdrop remains challenging, however we continue to expect to deliver group underlying profit before tax in line with Board expectations for the current financial year.
“We are encouraged that the momentum we saw going into the second half has continued throughout the third quarter. Our agile and diversified business model positions the business well to respond to the uncertain environment, as demonstrated by the outperformance in new vehicles and the strong margin profile of the broader UK Motor division.
“While supply chain challenges and other market pressures are set to persist, we are confident we have the right strategy in place to deliver for our customers and partners, and to meet our expectations for the full year.”
