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Inchcape turned in a 5% increase in turnover to £2.3bn in the first quarter following hard on its decision earlier this month to sell its UK retail business to Group 1 for £346m.
It said it would push ahead as a pureplay distribution business with a £100m share buyback on completion of the transaction.
Duncan Tait, group chief executive, said: “Our positive start to 2024 reflects the underlying quality of our business and we have confidence in, and we have reiterated, our outlook for the year.
“We recently announced an agreement to divest our UK Retail business. This transaction will complete our strategic transformation into a pureplay distribution business which is capital light, highly cash generative, higher margin and globally diversified.
“With our global market leadership position, digital and data capabilities to support our OEM partners, our distribution platform is well positioned for the future, and we remain confident about the medium to long-term outlook for the group.”