Marshall Motor profit drops but interim dividend hiked
Automotive retailer Marshall Motor posted a drop in first-half profit on Tuesday amid "challenging" market conditions and cost headwinds, but hiked its dividend and backed its expectations for the full year.
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16:55 14/06/22
In the six months to the end of June, pre-tax profit dropped 9% to £14.8m on revenue of £1.18bn, up 1.8% on the first half of last year. On an underlying basis, pre-tax profit was down 5.3% to £15.2m and like-for-like revenue was 0.9% higher at £1.16bn.
Overall group costs pushed up 2.5% to £114.9m, driven in part by the company's recent acquisitions, while LFL operating costs ticked up 1.6% to £112.3m.
Marshall said it outperformed the market in all core metrics during the half. LFL new unit sales to retail customers fell 0.4% compared to a market drop of 3.2%, while LFL new unit sales to fleet customers declined 1.1% versus a 3.6% market fall.
The interim dividend was boosted by 32.6% to 2.85p a share.
Chief executive officer Daksh Gupta said: "Despite challenging market conditions, the group has delivered a strong H1 unit sales performance, ahead of both the new and used car markets and underlying profit before tax in line with the board's expectations
"Given continued weak consumer confidence as a result of ongoing political uncertainty over Brexit, ongoing cost headwinds for the retail sector and further potential new vehicle supply constraints in the lead up to the implementation of further emissions-related regulations on 1 September 2019, the board believes it is right to remain cautious regarding the outlook for the remainder of the year. Nevertheless, the board's current outlook for the full year remains unchanged."
At 0925 BST, the shares were up 0.7% at 140p.