Restricted used car supplies and rising costs see Arnold Clark profits fall -34% to £173.5m

Restricted used car supplies and increased operating and staff costs saw Arnold Clark pre-tax profits fall -34% to £173.5m on turnover up 3.8% to £4.9bn in the year to 31 December 2022.

In accounts filed at Companies House, it said its used car retail volumes fell 13.9% to 192,904 units, reflecting the shortage of used cars in the UK and slowing consumer demand due to the cost of living crisis.

“The group has performed well during 2022 with the restricted new vehicle supply and the related shortage of used cars helping the group maintain vehicle margins throughout the year.

“Following on from the exceptional performance reported last year, this was our second most profitable year.”

New vehicle units sold were 55,820, in line with the previous year but car units prices increased. Aftersales revenues were £201m compared to £204m the prior year.  It noted rising costs relating to rates, employee wages and finance.

Arnold Clark said it remained in dialogue with The Information Commission on the cyber attack it experienced in December 2022.

It said at the time of writing (May 2023) no formal action had been taken by the ICO regarding the incident and there have been no preliminary findings communicated y the ICO as regards any fault on behalf of the company.

It said it had received notification of complaints and claims for damages but the claims remained at pre-litigation stage.