Online car buying trend reaping rewards for Auto Trader

Digital car selling platform Auto Trader Group cashed in on the doubling of time buyers spend looking for their vehicle online with pre-tax profits rising 23% to £193.4m.

Year-end results to March 31 show the Manchester-based company turnover topped £311m, rising 9% (2016: £281.6m).

Meanwhile, net external debt fell to £355m from last year’s figure of £392.6m.

The company also returned £128.7m to shareholders through £102.1m of share buy-backs (26.3 million shares at an average price of 388p) plus dividends paid of £26.6m (2016: £5m).

Chief executive Trevor Mather said: “With consumers spending more than double the time researching their next car online than they do offline, we have strived to create greater transparency and therefore trust in our marketplace, benefitting consumers, retailers, and manufacturers alike.

“This in turn continues to increase the value we deliver, making the car buying journey a simpler, more enjoyable and trusted process.

“After a number of years of near uninterrupted growth, and despite the exceptionally high performing first quarter of the calendar year, the industry now expects new car registrations to plateau or decline but continues to anticipate growth in used car transaction volumes.

“The new financial year has started well, and despite the wider political and economic uncertainty, the board is confident of delivering its growth expectations for the coming year.

“We remain focused on enhancing the value of our marketplace and continuously improving the products and services we offer for consumers, retailers and manufacturers.”