26 September 2019

Arnold Clark, the UK’s largest retail group by franchise number, saw profit before tax rise 6.5% in 2018 to £113.5 million, according to its annual accounts published today.

Turnover for 2018 hit £4.24 billion, up 7.8% from £3.93bn in 2017 and the group reported net assets exceeded £1bn for the first time.

Chief executive Eddie Hawthorn reported the success was in primarily due to Arnold Clark’s used car performance with units sold increasing 9.5% to 238,977 vehicles and “improved vehicle margins, resulting in an increase in operating profit to £125.5m”.

In the group’s accounts, he highlighted improved performance from the expanding number of Motorstore used car sites. During 2019, Arnold Clark has opened a Motorstore in Bolton and has plans for two more openings latter this year.

Mr Hawthorn added that while new car sales performance was ahead of the market, they were down 2.6% in 2018 at 68,344 units.

As reported by Auto Retail Agenda in August, 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.

Tags: Arnold Clark