Car retail giant Lookers has reported a strong third quarter with trading exceeding all expectations - but said the ongoing global shortage of semi-conductors had placed "increasing pressure" on supply and availability.
Releasing a Q3 trading update to the markets on Wednesday, the Greater Manchester-based firm said despite the "considerable uncertainty" for the final quarter, the board expects underlying profit before tax for 2021 to be materially ahead of its previous forecasts.
The firm also said following the petrol shortages of the last few weeks, interest in electric vehicles "continues to grow".
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It added that to the quarter ending September 30, the UK new car market declined by 31.1%. But the group outperformed that by 3.4%, supported by its "significantly improved" omni-channel customer experience.
CEO Mark Raban said: "The group has built on its record first half result and performed strongly in a challenging market, underpinned by further enhancements to its omni-channel experience, which allows customers the flexibility to buy a car however they choose.
"Interest in electric vehicles continues to grow, particularly in light of the UK wide fuel shortage, and the Group remains well positioned to benefit from this exciting growth opportunity moving forward.
"Although supply restrictions remain, we continue to work with our OEM partners to minimise the impact and I would like to thank my colleagues and customers for their patience and understanding."
The firm added that supply of used vehicles also remained restricted during the quarter.
Like-for-like used unit sales were down 16.9% in Q3 versus "strong comparatives".
The firm said that was "more than offset" by unprecedented margin retention driven by ongoing strong customer demand and improvement to the group's stock management processes.
Aftersales revenues in the quarter remained "robust", and on a like-for-like basis were 3.5% below last year.
The firm said the board retains its focus on cash management and liquidity.
On September 30, the group had a net cash balance of approximately £30m compared to net debt of £25.9m on the same date in 2020.
