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Inchcape turned in a “resilient” performance in the first half with pre-tax profits on continuing operations up 10% to £195m on revenues up 8% to £4.7bn.
It announced its results as it confirmed the sale of its UK retail arm to Group 1 Automotive for £346m in a deal expected to complete in Q3. Inchcape has focusing on distribution for years, selling off a spate of retail businesses.
It said it won four distribution contracts in the first half and also announced an increased buyback programme of £150m, with an accelerated timeline starting immediately.
Duncan Tait, group CEO, said: “With the disposal of our UK Retail business, Inchcape will become a pureplay operator, focused on automotive distribution, which is capital light, highly cash generative, higher margin and higher returns than pure Retail businesses.
“This represents a significant a strategic step in our journey to becoming the leading global distribution partner for our OEM partners.
“Our success in winning new Distribution contracts continued during the first half, with four contracts awarded in the period. These contracts, along with our investment in acquisitions, will continue to support the business as we grow in existing markets by building market share, expand into new markets and develop our OEM partner portfolio to drive growth.
“With our global market leadership position and our differentiated digital and data capabilities to support our OEM partners, our Distribution platform is well positioned for the future. To that end, we reiterate our growth expectations for FY 2024 and remain confident about the medium to long-term outlook for the Group.”