The boss of a national car supermarket giant headquartered in Derby has hailed its half-year trading performance despite being hit by higher overheads and “lacklustre” consumer confidence.
This morning, Motorpoint, which has its head office at the Wyvern Business Park, reported revenues of £533.9 million for the six months to the end of September, up from £528.6 million during the same period last year.
However, its pre-tax profits fell from £11.5 million to £9.4 million, after its overheads increased by around £2 million.
Motorpoint is the largest independent vehicle retailer in the UK. It specialises in the sale of nearly-new vehicles, the majority of which are up to two years old and which have covered less than 15,000 miles.
It operates from 12 retail sites across the UK, including an outlet in Chartwell Drive, Derby.
The company is continuing to expand its estate and highlights during the last six months include the completion of a 10-acre preparation centre in Peterborough, while a new site in Swansea is on track.
Chief executive Mark Carpenter said: “Against a challenging environment, the group has delivered a resilient trading performance, underpinned by revenue growth and robust cash generation.
“Group profit was impacted by increased overheads, which were approximately £2m higher than the comparable period last year.
“Half of this increase will be non-recurring following process changes implemented in the period.
“The first half of the year has seen significant growth in our market share despite ongoing market disruption, with the political situation leading to another period of lacklustre consumer confidence.
“Specifically, within the used car market, the early summer months was also a period of unusually high pressure on margins.”
This morning, Motorpoint also announced that the group’s founder and non-executive director David Shelton will retire from the board on December 31. Mr Shelton stepped down as an executive director in March last year.
Motorpoint chairman Mark Morris said: “I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the board and the whole group, to thank David for his tireless service to Motorpoint since founding it in 1998.
“David has been key to Motorpoint’s successful growth strategy from its first site in Derby to the 12-strong estate that we operate from today. The board wishes David a long and happy retirement.”
