Strong final quarter for Lookers
Car dealership group Lookers enjoyed a strong final three months of 2022.
The board now expects underlying profit before tax for the full year to be greater than £80 million.
This compares to £90.1m in 2021, which included £9.8m of Covid support.
The group includes Mercedez-Benz dealerships in Shrewsbury, Stourbridge, Walsall and Wolverhampton, and BMW in Stafford.
Chief executive Mark Raban said: "We've enjoyed a strong close to the year, outperforming the new retail market, leading to an increase in our full year profit expectations. This has been achieved against a context of significant supply chain disruption and unprecedented inflationary cost pressure. Despite a number of ongoing trading headwinds, we have started 2023 confidently. "
Trading in the final quarter was ahead of the board's expectations with underlying pre-tax profit greater than in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The UK new retail car market grew by one per cent in the quarter and the group outperformed the market by approximately 3.1 per cent.
