• NEW CFO FOR ARNOLD CLARK
• LLOYD MOTOR’S PROFITS UP 17.9%
• BCA VOTES IN FAVOUR OF SALE
• DAIMLER GAINS PLACE ON CARWOW BOARD
• BMW COMMITS TO SALES TARGET
• NISSAN RENAULT STILL WORKING ON FIAT DEAL
• STOCKWATCH – Inchcape falls on downgrade
• LAUNCH DIARY – Vauxhall adds plug-in Grandland
• COMING UP – Auto Retail Live Q3 Briefing
• MORTGAGES HIGH, CREDIT LOW
• BOE CUTS GROWTH FORECAST
• BLOG – BMW under pressure

New CFO for Arnold Clark

Arnold Clark will take on a new chief financial officer in mid-2020. Mark Harvey will take over the role from Ken Mclean following a handover period.

Mr Harvey is a partner for Ernst & Young in Scotland and was the managing partner until the announcement of the move. Ernst & Young was also the auditor for Arnold Clark, but due to the conflict of interest with Mr Harvey’s move the firm has had to step down from working with the UK’s largest auto retail firm by franchises held.

Speaking to Auto Retail Agenda, Mr McLean said: “I will have been the group finance director for 22 years by the time Mark starts and while I will remain as a main board director, I hope to spend a little more time travelling.”

He added that despite the change in auditor, the results would still be submitted to Companies House, as expected, in a few weeks’ time and that they would show Arnold Clark now had more than £1 billion in net assets.

Lloyd Motor’s profits up 17.9%

North of England based Lloyd Motor Group saw a 17.9% increase in pre-tax profits last year to hit a figure of £9.8 million, according to the firm’s latest results.

The gain comes on the back of a 3.7% increase in turnover to £562m from £541m in 2017.

Lloyd operates six BMW Mini businesses and also holds the Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Honda.

Managing director Bryan Lloyd added: “The directors look forward to improving the level of profitability in 2019 subject to the overall market and economic trading conditions remaining similar to 2018.”

BCA votes in favour of sale

BCA Marketplace shareholders voted, on Monday, to approve the sale of the business to TDR Capital, six weeks after the initial offer for the firm that will see it return to being privately owned.

Completion of the sale is expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2019 following approval from regulatory bodies such as the European Commission and the FCA.

Daimler gains place on Carwow board

Mercedes-Benz parent firm Daimler has gained a seat on the Carwow board following the new car buying website’s latest round of funding which raised £25 million.

http://bit.ly/2yDAkBc

WORLD NEWS

BMW commits to sales target

BMW has claimed it will still hit its targets this year despite slowing sales and falling profits in Q2.

http://bit.ly/2KlsXnm

Nissan Renault still working on Fiat deal

Nissan and Renault are working on reshaping their global alliance in order to re-start talks about a merger with Fiat Chrysler, according to reports.

http://bit.ly/2GOggk2

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices on 2 August 2019 and weekly movement

Inchcape falls after JP Morgan Chase downgraded its investment forecast.

Auto Trader Group 526.2p (-8.8p)

BCA 241.6p (-0.2p)

Cambria 56.5p (-1.0p)

Caffyns 410.0p (n/c)

Inchcape 590.5p (-36.0p)

Lookers 45.2p 41.8p (-3.4p)

Marshall Motor Holdings 140.0p (+1.0p)

Motorpoint 220.0p (+10.0p)

Pendragon 13.4p (+0.1p)

Vertu 34.4p (-1.9p)

LAUNCH DIARY

Vauxhall Grandland X PHEV, plug-in hybrid, on sale now from £35,000.

Hyundai Kona Play, popular special edition added to the range, on sale now from £18,355

Vauxhall Corsa, new model on sale now from £15,550, deliveries from January 2020

Audi E-tron 50, lower range and lower priced model of Audi’s full EV, on sale early 2020

COMING UP

Tuesday, Retail sales figures

Wednesday, Auto Retail Live; Q3 Briefing, sign-up for the free broadcast here

Wednesday, Halifax House Price Index

Thursday, RICS Housing Market Survey

Friday, latest GDP figures

MONEY MATTERS

Mortgage approvals high, consumer credit low

Overall consumer credit has slowed to its weakest level for more than five years despite a five-month high for mortgage approvals, according to the Bank of England.

http://bit.ly/2KbCcrm

BoE cuts growth forecast

UK growth will be lower than previously expected over the next two years, according to the Bank of England.

https://bbc.in/2KlxMNk