Vertu results, reports and presentations
| Date | Title | Results | Accounts | Presentation | Webcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29th February 2024 | Annual Results 2024 | View results | View | Download | Watch webcast |
Full year results for the 12 months ended 29 February 2024
Robert Forrester interview on the results
Watch the video
Highlights
- Profit before tax rose 6.5% to £34.6m from £32.5m
- Adjusted1 profit before tax of £37.8m (FY23: £39.3m), on record revenues of £4.7 billion. Profit in line with current market expectations
- Operating expenses as a percentage of revenues fell to 9.7% (FY23: 9.9%) reflecting application of strong cost disciplines despite inflationary pressures
- Used car margins weakened in H2 due to price corrections in the market: values and margins stabilised by the end of the Year
- Aftersales delivered a strong performance, with like-for-like revenue up 8.6% and Core Group gross profit up £13.2m compared to FY23
- Free Cash Flow of £57.0m in the Year (FY23: £54.3m) reflecting excellent working capital management and the underlying cash generative nature of the business
- Net debt2 of £54.0m as at 29 February 2024, lower than market expectations (FY23: Net debt: £75.3m)
- Final Dividend of 1.50p per share recommended, bringing full year dividend to 2.35p per share (FY23: 2.15p), an increase of 9.3%
- Net tangible assets per share of 70.5p
- £7.5m returned to shareholders via repurchase of 11.3m shares during the Year
[1] Adjusted to remove non-underlying items
[2] Excludes lease liabilities, includes used vehicle stocking loans
Current Trading and Outlook
- Strong trading performance delivered in key months of March and April gives confidence for the new financial year
- Group gained market share in the critical March and April new retail market showing like-for-like decline of 2.6% against market decline in SMMT registrations of 10.8%
- Fleet volumes and margins remain robust
- Used vehicle prices have been stable with volumes and margins robust in March and April. Like-for-like used car volumes grew 5.8% year-on-year and gross profit increased
- Aftersales revenues and profits remain highly resilient and saw growth aided by retention products, such as service plans, and additional numbers of technicians recruited
- Battery electric vehicle sales growth in the UK has stalled. Government mandated targets increase over the coming years and there is a risk the industry falls short of these targets. With the threat of significant fines on Manufacturers on missing targets, the risk of potential market volatility later in the year and medium-term is elevated
- In FY25 cash proceeds from disposal of properties of £10.6m are anticipated, approximately £2.6m in excess of book value
- Group well positioned with stable management and a very strong balance sheet
- A share buyback approval for the potential purchase of shares for up to £3m has been put in place for the new financial year. Gearing limit of up to 1.5x net debt/EBITDA reconfirmed
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