Higher margins offset declining sales volumes at Cambria
Motor dealer Cambria Automobiles managed to successfully grow profit and revenue throughout the financial year, as per-unit profits counteracted a slide in sales volumes.
Cambria Automobiles
82.50p
16:55 12/10/21
FTSE AIM All-Share
752.58
15:40 25/04/24
General Retailers
3,897.97
15:40 25/04/24
Over the twelve months ended 31 August, pre-tax profits increased 6.6% to £11.3m on a 4.9% revenue boost to £644.3m despite declining sales volumes in both new and used vehicles.
Cambria saw new vehicle sales fall 12% as used sales fell 6.1% but managed to offset losses thanks to a 26% increase in profit per unit for new vehicles and a 5.6% uptick on used cars.
Although the firm said it believed the results to be "solid", chief executive Mark Lavery said the company remained "cautious" given the challenging trading environment amid a less strong than desired consumer outlook.
"The trading environment in the period post-March has been more challenging, particularly in the new car arena which has been impacted by a number of factors. The weakening in the sterling exchange rate has led to inflation in the landed cost of imported vehicles into the UK which, combined with a level of consumer uncertainty in the market, has led to the anticipated reduction of new car sales," said Lavery.
Underlying EBITDA gained 4.6% to £13.7m and earnings per share increased 10.3% to 9.19p.
Throughout the year Cambria focused on integrating several new businesses and had made much progress in bringing its property investments up to manufacturers standards.
Lavery said, "I am delighted that we have been given the opportunity to develop facilities for such prestigious brands as McLaren and Bentley in addition to our already excellent portfolio of Brand partners."
"This is an exciting development for the group and we are looking forward to working with our new partners. The new bank funding also gives us the required flexibility to deliver on the strategic investments that we are making in facilities and new franchise opportunities," he added.
Cambria announced a final dividend of 0.75p per ordinary share, making for a 7% year-on-year increase, and for the full-year declared an 11% rise in its payout per share to 1.0p.
In a separate announcement on Wednesday, the group revealed that it had refinanced its existing debt facilities with Lloyds Banking Group to provide it with a new £40m, five-year revolving credit facility.
As of 1450 GMT, shares had edged forward 3.23% to 64.00p.