Pendragon cuts losses after ‘difficult’ year

Nottingham-based car retail giant Pendragon has cut losses despite what its chief executive called “a difficult year”.

The firm made a loss of £24.7m last year, down from £117.4m in 2019. Revenues fell sharply at the firm – down from £4.5bn in 2019 to £2.9bn last year.

Pendragon closed 15 sites last year, saving £2m a year, it said, while its internal review will save it a further £35m a year.

Bill Berman, chief executive, said: “It has been a difficult year for many people and I’d like to thank all of our team who have worked exceptionally hard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Their resilience and dedication meant we were able to deliver a solid performance in what has been a particularly challenging period for the car retail industry.

“We took early and decisive action to ensure the safety of our associates and our customers and protect the group’s financial position. We also accelerated the development of our digital capabilities and introduced both click and collect and home delivery options for our customers. These actions, coupled with the positive progress made against our new strategy, provide us with a strong platform for the future and the results for this period show there is good momentum in the business, despite the external pressures. We are confident the improvements made to our business model over the past year leave us well positioned to navigate this period and accelerate our strategy during the course of the year and beyond.”