Guidance update

At the 2024 Annual Meeting in November, the Chair advised that trading in the six months to 31 December remained ‘tough’. This trading environment occurred in a flat market and economy where the new vehicle market was over-supplied, so over-competitive, which meant some of the competition was ‘moving the metal’ just to keep cash flowing. These supply and competition factors were consistent over the whole of 2024. They have had an inevitable impact on the half year result to 31 December. Ahead of finalising that result, the suggested decrease in the trading profit before tax, against the 2023 comparative half year, is expected to be in the vicinity of 20%. This is not as significant a decline as was expected back in November. While December was a strong trading month, it is too early to comment on whether that was an aberration or a sign of some level of market recovery. Dealerships continued their cost management focus to embrace the ‘new normal’ in terms of market volume.