Pendragon experiences strong quarter despite raft of pressures
Nottingham-headquartered car retailer Pendragon has delivered a strong trading performance in Q3 2022 against a turbulent backdrop of supply chain pressures and a potential £400m takeover bid by its largest shareholder.
In a trading update this morning (25 October), the firm said it had maintained an “exceptional” level of gross profit due in part to its digital innovation strategy.
Despite a dip in new vehicle volumes caused by a reduction in supply, the company said it had outperformed the market “with new units up 14.2% in the quarter.”
However, the firm also noted that while its revenue increased by 5% during the period, its overall underlying profits before tax now stand at £14.7m – down from £25.1m in Q3 2021.
Bill Berman, chief executive of Pendragon, said: “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.”
As we reported on Sunday, the company was recently hit by a major cyber attack which saw hackers steal 5% of the data on its IT systems.
