Auto Retail Agenda: 1 August 2022
30 July 2022
- LSH AUTO POSTS ANOTHER LOSS
- RYBROOK AUTOMOTIVE IN £11.8m PROFIT
- RETAILER FINED £58k OVER ULEZ ‘LIES’
- LEXUS JOINS MOTABILITY
- SONIC TO KEEP ECHOPARK
- CHINESE STARTUP EVS TO J.D. POWER SURVEY
- STOCKWATCH: Inchcape expands in Latin America with £1.3bn Derco deal
- COMING UP: Cazoo H1 results
- BIGGEST INTEREST RATE RISE IN 25 YEARS FORECAST
- ARE WE NEAR PEAK INFLATION?
LSH Auto posts another loss
LSH Auto has announced a £2.6m loss for the year ended December 2021. In 2020, the Mercedes-Benz retailer group posted a £47.1m loss. Turnover for 2021 grew from £286m to £364m.
LSH has lost money in the UK every year since it first bought the Birmingham and Manchester market areas sites form Mercedes-Benz Retail in 2016.
In its results, LSH said it was subject to a data breach in June 2021. It recruited specialists to investigate and contacted the relevant authorities. The ICO has concluded its investigation no further challenges remain. “We will continue to invest in monitoring to mitigate risk.”
Rybrook Automotive in £11.8m profit
Rybrook Automotive Ltd, which calls itself one of the largest privately-owned retailer groups in the UK, has posted an £11.8m profit before tax for the year ended December 2021, up from £1.4m in 2020. Turnover grew from from £660m to £802m.
In October last year, Rybrook returned to full ownership by the Whale family after buying out the investors that helped return it to private ownership in 2003. Rybrook Group Ltd, formerly Shelfco 2021 Ltd, became the company’s new ultimate parent company.
Rybrook Holdings Ltd was renamed Rybrook Automotive Ltd in April 2022.
Retailer fined £58k over ULEZ ‘lies’
Elite Automotive, trading as Hilton Car Supermarket of Hayes, has admitted multiple cases of listing non-ULEZ-compliant cars as ULEZ free. Hillingdon Council trading standards investigated after being alerted by a customer. It has been fined £58k.
Lexus joins Motability
Lexus has joined the Motability scheme. It is offering a single vehicle, the UX 250h F-Sport Design, with an advance payment of £3,995. The vehicle is already available in the latest quarterly pricing.
WORLD NEWS
Sonic to keep EchoPark
Sonic Automotive has ended a strategic review of its EchoPark used-vehicle-only stores – and will not dispose of the division. “Timing and current market conditions do not align with the company’s value creation objectives for the business.” Sonic is also easing 2025 revenue goals for EchoPark, which originally projected 575k sales and $14bn in sales annually. Last week, EchoPark reported lower income but higher revenue for Q2.
Chinese startup EVs to J.D. Power survey
Chinese electric car startup brands have topped the latest China J.D. Power survey of new car owners. “The reason Chinese start-ups are keeping their leading position in all aspects of vehicle appeal is not only their unique concept and approach to making vehicles but also their pursuit of product design and clear product positioning.”
STOCKWATCH
Closing prices on 29 July 2022 and weekly change
Auto Trader Group 629.6p (+2.7p / +5.7%)
Caffyns 550.0p (n/c)
Halfords 172.1p (+1.2p / +0.6%)
Inchcape 840.5p (+47.5p / +5.8%)
Lookers 75.2p (-3.5p / -4.5%)
Pendragon 22.0p (+0.4p / +1.8%)
Vertu 58.5p (+0.5p / +0.8%)
COMING UP
Tuesday, Cazoo Q2 and H1 results
Tuesday, Caffyns AGM
Thursday, Bank of England interest rate decision
MONEY MATTERS
Biggest interest rate rise in 25 years forecast
Markets are predicting a 0.5% interest rate hike, to 1.75%, on Thursday. It will be the biggest rise in 25 years. However, the ‘near certainty’ of a 0.5% rise has softened in recent days. One analyst said the window for further rate rises is beginning to close and market predictions for peak Bank rate have been cut from 3.5% to 2.9%.
Are we near peak inflation?
Strip out fuel, energy and food prices, and core inflation may have peaked. It reached 6.2% in April; in June, it was down to 5.8%. Used car prices have fallen 8% year-on-year. Prices for raw materials are down and oil has fallen 17% since its March peak. “Producer output inflation is about to crater,” said one analyst. Others are now starting to worry that such falling commodity prices may be a warning sign of recession.
Tags:
Cazoo, EchoPark, Inchcape, inflation, interest rates, J.D. Power, Lexus, LSH Auto, Motability, Rybrook, Sonic, ULEZ 
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