Auto Retail Agenda: 16 August 2021
15 August 2021
- FURLOUGH BOOSTS JOHN CLARK PROFIT
- SYTNER PORTSMOUTH PLANS FACE VOTE
- AUTO TRADER CAR FINANCE FIRM EXPANDS AGAIN
- COLOUR CODED COVID LANYARDS FOR STAFF
- SALVAGE CAR DEMAND AND PRICES UP
- AUTONATION, GROUP 1 IN $2k F&I PROFIT PER VEHICLE
- USED BEATS NEW IN EU
- STOCKWATCH – Marshall hit all-time high last week
- COMING UP – British Motor Show
- ECONOMY UP IN Q2
- LEGAL RIGHT TO WFH UNLIKELY
Furlough boosts John Clark profit
Scotland’s John Clark has reported profit before tax of £6.2m for the year ended December 2020. This is an 83% increase on 2019’s £2.6m and comes despite turnover dropping from £820m to £721m. New vehicle sales fell 21% to 11,256 units; used fell 4%, better than the UK average of 15%.
Staff fell from 1,384 to 1,272. The group claimed £5.8m in CJRS Furlough receipts, reducing employee costs from £50m to £38.7m for the year.
The retailer approved dividends of £520k during the year, the same as 2019. The business has £18.7m in cash at bank and at hand, up from £6.5m in 2019.
In terms of individual franchises, JLR “again delivered strong profits”, as did Volvo; Volkswagen “saw enhanced returns”; BMW “saw a return to profitability”.
Sytner Portsmouth plans face vote
Councillors will this week consider planning permission for a Sytner JLR retailer on Portsmouth’s Lakeside Business Park. Revised plans have been submitted after the council purchased the business park for £138m: these include reducing the size of the planned building by a quarter to free up outdoor space for vehicle display and EV charging.
Auto Trader car finance firm expands again
Zuto is hiring 100 staff in Manchester and Macclesfield in response to soaring used car demand. The online car finance firm has already hired 150 people since January. Zuto signed an exclusive deal with Auto Trader in 2015.
Colour coded covid lanyards for staff
FTSE 100 firm Phoenix Group has introduced colour-coded lanyards. The green, orange and red lanyards signify whether colleagues should keep their distance, or they are ‘OK with high-fives’.
Salvage car demand and prices up
Online vehicle salvage auction firm Synetiq says demand for cars and vans is ‘unprecedented’ due to broader market supply issues. Values of damaged repairable vehicles is also rising.
WORLD NEWS
AutoNation, Group 1 in $2k F&I profit per vehicle
Group 1 average F&I profit per vehicle rose $250 in Q2 to $2,125. It joins AutoNation in surpassing $2k F&I per vehicle mark. “It’s not that we’re raising prices on F&I,” said AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson. “It’s that the adoption rate of our products is going up.”
Used beats new in EU
Used cars outperformed new in every major European market other than Italy. Used car volumes in France actually outperformed pre-Covid levels. The UK is also expected to surpass 2019 by the end of the year. Residual values are also rising across the EU – except for BEVs, which are falling, due to low used demand, generous new car incentives and fast technology-ageing.
STOCKWATCH
Closing prices on 13 August 2021 and weekly change
Marshall hit all-time high last week
Auto Trader Group 637.2p (-6.6p / -1.0%)
Cambria 80.5p (+0.5p / +0.6%)
Caffyns 450.0p (+46.9p / +10.9%)
Halfords 373.2p (+12.2p / +3.3%)
Inchcape 917.0p (+19.0p / +2.0%)
Lookers 69.2p (-1.1p / -1.5%)
Marshall Motor Holdings 247.0p (+11.0p / +4.5%)
Motorpoint 329.0p (-25.0p / -7.3%)
Pendragon 18.3p (+0.3p / +1.6%)
Vertu 46.7p (+0.3p / +0.6%)
COMING UP
Tuesday, UK unemployment
Wednesday, CPI, RPI
Thursday to Sunday, British Motor Show at Farnborough International
Thursday, NFDA Aftersales Working Group launch
Friday, GFK consumer confidence
MONEY MATTERS
Economy up in Q2
ONS figures show the UK economy grew 4.8% in Q2. This is the best performance of any advanced economy; the US recorded 1.6% and Germany 1.5%. However, the UK economy is still 4.4% smaller than the end of 2019.
Legal right to WFH unlikely
Working from home is unlikely to become a legal right. Government advisory body the Flexible Working Taskforce has indicated it will not support it. Instead, it called for employment law to be strengthened to encourage flexible working and make employees’ work-life balance easier.
Tags:
Auto Trader, AutoNation, British Motor Show, Covid, Furlough, Group 1, John Clark, Marshall, Synetiq, Sytner, WFH, Zuto 
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