Seven up for car sales giant

MANCHESTER-based car dealer group Lookers is continuing to pull away in the growth fast lane after reporting an 11% increase in adjusted pre-tax profits to £72.1m (2014: £65m).

In its results for the year ended December 31 the group said revenue also grew 20% to £3.65bn (2014: £3.04bn).

Adjusted earnings per share were up 12.7% at 15.24p (2014: 13.52p) and there is a proposed final dividend of 2.05p per share – total dividend per share up 10% at 3.12p (2014: 2.84p).

The company pointed to the acquisition of the Benfield Motor Group in 2015 and a record performance from its motor and parts division as highlights of the year.

Lookers chief executive Andy Bruce said:  “We have delivered another strong trading performance in 2015, our seventh consecutive year of increased profits, which provides further evidence that our business model is both resilient and expansive through the cycle.

“Our motor division and our parts divisions also produced excellent results, showing the diversity and strength of our operations.

“Our strategy is to have the right brands, the right locations and excellent execution. By implementing this, we are ideally placed to take advantage of growth prospects across all areas of the business as well as consolidation opportunities in the sector, not least because businesses of scale will be the winners in our sector.

“This gives us confidence that we will deliver another improved performance in 2016.”