Lookers hails ‘excellent’ first quarter sales

LOOKERS, the North West car sales and parts distribution group, has reported a strong start to the year.

The Manchester-based group said it had seen an excellent trading performance in the first quarter to March 31, which, it said, has continued to this date. 

 

These strong results were both ahead of budget and a significant improvement on the same period from January 1 to May 14 last year, it added.

The UK new car market increased by 7% in the three months to 31 March, with the retail new car market rising by 11% and the fleet market improving by 3%. 

Lookers new car retail sales increased by 13%, which was 2% ahead of the market. Fleet volumes reduced by 7%; the reduction in volume being primarily due to low margin fleet business in 2012, which was not repeated this year. 

Both new retail car margins and fleet margins improved on last year, which Lookers said more than offset the margin lost from the reduction in fleet volume.

 

Used car volumes for the three months continued the upward trend of last year with an increase of 17% over the prior year with stable margins, which the company said was down to its strong focus on proactive pricing, stock management, improved buying and continued investment in the group’s website.

 

The aftersales business in the motor division increased turnover, with a small erosion in the gross margin compared to last year, while the independent parts division, which struggled last year, has seen turnover and profit increase.

 

In its interim statement the company added: “Whilst economic conditions are still affecting consumer confidence, we continue to improve the operational and financial performance of the group. 

“The aftersales bias to the business and our strong performance over the last four years, demonstrates the ability of the group to perform well in a challenging market. We are therefore confident that the group is in a good position to deliver a strong first half year performance in line with management expectations and make further progress during the rest of this year.”