Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Motor retail and aftersales service group Lookers upgraded its outlook on annual profit following 'strong' third-quarter performance amid ongoing demand for new and used vehicles.
The company said it now expects underlying pre-tax profit for 2021 to be 'materially ahead' of its previous expectations.
'Trading in Q3 remained strong and above the board's expectations driven by new vehicle market outperformance, excellent new and used vehicle margins and continued tight cost and working capital control,' it added,
Like-for-like used unit sales were down 16.9% in Q3 versus strong comparatives, though this 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 fell 3.5% on a like-for-like basis.