International automotive distributor and retailer Inchcape has boosted operating profit 9.2% to £176.4m on revenue up 8.9% to £4.5bn for the full year ended 31 December 2005.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Pre-tax profit was up 8.6% to £177.3m and the company has proposed a final dividend up 8.6% to 38.0p per share, taking the total dividend payment for year up 14% to 57.0p a share.
Trading profit growth exceeded 10% in five of the six core markets the company operates in and year on year margins saw slight improvements, despite some pressure in the second half.
Inchcape reported record sales in Australia and Singapore and a strong year for its UK retail operations, which achieved a 41.9% growth in trading profits.
It has also announced it will enter the Russian market through a Toyota joint venture with Independence Group.
“Despite overall market conditions remaining challenging, we are well placed to deliver further growth in 2006,” said Inchcape group chief executive André Lacroix.
“Our future growth will come in two ways: from strengthening Inchcape’s current businesses through a resolute focus on customer-centric operational excellence and from expanding in both our existing and new markets.”
