Auto Retail Agenda: 19 February 2024
18 February 2024
- FCA LOANS INVESTIGATION ‘NOT BLACK AND WHITE’
- OCTOPUS BORROWS £550m TO DOUBLE EV LEASING FLEET
- PEBLEY BEACH’S DOMINIC THRELFALL RETIRES
- JCB GROUP RENEWS BCA REMARKETING DEAL
- VINFAST BEGINS RHD PRODUCTION
- AUTONATION CUTS REGIONAL EXECS
- GROUP 1 UPS 2024 DIVIDEND
- STOCKWATCH: Pendragon becomes Pinewood
- COMING UP: GFK consumer confidence
- RECORD LONG-TERM SICKNESS
- PRIVATE PARKING FIRMS MADE £1bn LAST YEAR
FCA loans investigation ‘not black and white’
Banks are in a “holding pattern” as the FCA investigates whether there has been systematic harm with discretionary commission models, says Kate Robinson from regulatory adviser Avyse Partners.
However, the issue is not “black and white… the responsibility has been pushed towards the banks but the brokers were involved in this process.
“From a lender’s point of view, these lenders have been held to the fire somewhat by brokers.”
Lloyds is understood to be most exposed, through its Black Horse division. There are estimates it could cost Lloyds £1.3bn to £2.4bn.
The issue is likely to be raised this week as Lloyds delivers its annual results.
Barclays also made loans through its subsidiary Clydesdale Financial Services, which trades as Barclays Partner Finance – but its exposure will be low as it only has a market share of 2.5%.
Last week, Natwest said it had no exposure to car finance. Santander has said it is too early to tell.
Octopus borrows £550m to double EV leasing fleet
Octopus Energy is to double its EV leasing fleet to 30,000 vehicles after securing a £550m debt deal. Around 4,000 workplaces, including Dyson, McLaren and Innocent Drinks, offer Octopus EV schemes.
Octopus EV chief executive Fiona Howarth said the division has more than tripled its fleet in the past year, with revenues growing from £5m in 2022 to £37m last year.
Octopus EV also began offering used EVs for schemes including salary sacrifice in December 2023. Howarth expects the used fleet mix to rise from 5% to as much as 50%.
Octopus secured the £550m credit line from Lloyds Bank in December. “Demand for EV leasing continues to grow and the finance sector is ready to back the transition,” the Telegraph reported Howarth saying.
In 2023, around 315k new EVs were registered, 77% to fleets such as Octopus. Private EV sales fell from 89k to 72k.
Pebley Beach’s Dominic Threlfall retires
Dominic Threlfall, owner of Swindon’s Pebley Beach Suzuki and Hyundai, is retiring after 32 years. He has sold the business to Trowbridge’s Platinum Motor Group. The teams at both Hyundai UK and Suzuki UK were supportive of the change of ownership, said Platinum MD Jeremy Cuff.
Fraser Brown of MotorVise brokered the deal.
Meanwhile, in Scarborough, Drive Motor Group has applied to renovate and reopen a former Marshall Honda retailer.
JCB Group renews BCA remarketing deal
Kent and Sussex retailer JCB Group has renewed its remarketing deal with BCA for a further two years. It will see more than 2500 vehicles sold annually at BCA. All JCB Group sales are held every Friday through BCA Online and the BCA Buyer app.
“BCA’s digital remarketing platforms deliver the best possible buying power for every JCB Group sale, supporting our used vehicle programme and wider growth plans across the south of England,” said JCB MD Jonathan Bischoff.
VinFast begins RHD production
Vietnamese new entrant VinFast has begun production of right-hand drive vehicles. At the Indonesia Motor Show, it exhibited a range of models from city-sized SUVs to large SUVs. It has also signed letters of intent with five retailers in right-hand-drive Indonesia, ahead of sales beginning later in 2024.
WORLD NEWS
AutoNation cuts regional execs
AutoNation has reported $7m (£5.5m) in severance payments after cutting regional executives to “boost efficiency”. The restructure sees local markets report directly to its COO Jeff Parent, which it says removes a layer of bureaucracy. This will “improve response times to decision-making and increase direct interactions with the executive team”.
Group 1 ups 2024 dividend
Group 1 automotive has increased its 2024 annual dividend to $1.88 (£1.49) per share. It is a 4% increase from the 2023 dividend. A $0.47 (37p) will be payable on 15 March to shareholders as of 1 March 2024.
STOCKWATCH
Closing prices on 16 February 2024 and weekly change
Pendragon PLC was officially renamed Pinewood Technologies Group PLC last week. It will be known as PINE on the London Stock Exchange, rather than PDG
Auto Trader Group 721.6p (+8.8p / +1.2%)
Caffyns 450.0p (-30.0p / -6.4%)
Halfords 186.9p (+5.6p / +3.0%)
Inchcape 656.5p (-18.0p / -2.7%)
Motorpoint 116.0p (+12.0p / +10.9%)
Pinewood Technologies Group 34.6p
Vertu 64.8p (+0.2p / +0.3%)
COMING UP
Thursday, Lloyds Banking Group annual results
Friday, GFK consumer confidence
MONEY MATTERS
Record long-term sickness
The number of people saying they are inactive due to long-term sickness is now a record 2.8 million, up 200k in a year. There are 700k fewer people in the workforce due to sickness than at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Private parking firms made £1bn last year
Motorists paid an estimated £1.1bn in fines to private parking companies in 2023, an increase of 29%. The RAC Foundation says the companies made 11.1 million requests to the DVLA for drivers’ details – a new record.
In 2012, there were around 10,400 private car parks; this swelled to 43,000 in 2022.
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