Half year sales and profits improve for car dealers Pendragon

The strong first half performance has continued through July and August.

Pendragon includes Evans Halshaw sites in Stourbridge, Walsall and Wolverhampton; a Stratstone site in Wolverhampton and a CarStore in Shrewsbury.

Pre-tax profits were up 6.8 per cent to £32.9 million on revenue that was ahead 1.6 per cent to £1.84 billion.

Chief executive Bill Berman said: "We have made a really encouraging start to the year which is reflected in a strong set of financial results and continued momentum across the business. Good progress has again been made in the delivery of our strategy, including the brand relaunch of our used car business."

Mr Berman said that Pendragon had transformed our digital capabilities over the past two years and this, combined with significant improvements to its operations, means it is well placed to offer customers the best possible experience.

"We have delivered these results in the face of challenging trading conditions in our sector due to supply constraints on both new and used vehicles and the impacts of inflationary pressures. We expect the environment to remain challenging in the second half of the year, however we take confidence from how we have performed in the last six months and expect to make further positive progress towards our long-term goals this year," he added.

Both new and used vehicle supply shortfalls are expected to continue for at least the remainder of the current financial year,but Pendragon's new car order bank remains strong, with over 22,000 orders as at the end of June.