Inchcape profit rises as weak pound provides a boost
Car dealership Inchcape reported a rise in full-year profit on Wednesday as revenue grew and the company was boosted by weakness in the pound.
FTSE 250
19,752.56
08:50 26/04/24
FTSE 350
4,460.35
08:50 26/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,413.50
08:50 26/04/24
General Retailers
3,890.96
08:39 26/04/24
Inchcape
781.50p
08:50 26/04/24
Pre-exceptional pre-tax profit jumped 12% to £349.4m, on revenue of £7.8bn, up 14.7% from the previous year.
Meanwhile, reported pre-tax profit was up 2% to £267.8m and reported operating profit edged up to £277.5m from £275.2m.
The company said earnings per share growth of 14% to 59.6p was supported by the drop in the pound since the UK's vote to leave the European Union and the global portfolio of its markets, as a lot of its sales are generated abroad.
Chief executive officer Stefan Bomhard said: "Inchcape is unique within its industry by being a global, independent and multi-brand automotive distributor and retailer. I believe our 2016 results demonstrate the strength of our business model as we sustained our track record of growth, converting a robust revenue performance into earnings growth and strong free cash flow.
"At the same time, we retained our disciplined approach to capital allocation with the proposed 14% growth in the full year dividend to 23.8p per share and completing the share buy-back programme we commenced last year demonstrating our commitment to driving sustainable shareholder returns."