City briefs: Lookers in £10.5m site sale; Dechra in line

MANCHESTER-based car dealership group Lookers has sold its Jaguar and Land Rover site in North London.

The company has received £10.5m in cash for the unit at Barnet, which has been sold to Cambria Automobiles.

Lookers said: “Cambria already operate Jaguar dealerships North of London, and this transaction aligns representation of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands with the market area strategies of the manufacturer.”

AIM-listed Cambria said the consideration for the acquisition comprises £3.75m for the freehold property, £5m of goodwill, £0.46m for fixed assets, with the remaining £1.26m for used cars, parts stock, demonstrator vehicles, accruals and prepayments.

The acquired dealership’s combined management accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013 show revenue of £46m and, on an adjusted basis, Cambria estimates the profit before tax for same period was £0.7m. 

::

PHARMACEUTICAL group Dechra has said it is well positioned for further growth after meeting a series of business challenges and growing order pipeline.
 
In a pre-close update, the Cheshire-headquartered company said it was confident of meeting full year expectations for the year to June 30, 2014.
 
The group, which specialises in animal products, said revenue for the year was up by approximately 1.6% at constant currency rates compared to last year or 2.3% at actual exchange rates. It said it had achieved positive momentum with improved revenue growth during the second half of 3.7%. This contrasted with a decline of 0.7% during the first six months.
 
All EU markets with the exception of the Netherlands were said to be showing growth and performance in the US had been boosted by the re-launch of its Ophthalmic range. It has also received clearance for the launch of its Osphos product, which is scheduled for Q1 2015.
 
Ian Page, chief executive of Dechra said: “Overall, group trading for the year ended June 30, 2014 is in line with management expectations. We have addressed the known challenges during the year, made strong progress with product pipeline delivery, completed a strategic US acquisition and are expanding geographically. We remain well placed for future growth.”
 
The company will release its preliminary results on September 8, 2014.