TG Holdcroft sees profits fall 21% in “challenging year”

TG Holdcroft turned in what is now a familiar financial story for dealers in 2023 with higher interest rates eating into profits and turnover on the rise.

The group saw profits decline-21.2% to £8.04m in the Year to December 2023 on turnover up 13.7% to £750.3m.

During the year, the group battled with rising inflation, higher interest rates  and a use car mrket which took a big hit in the second half as values fell sharply.

“It has been a challenging year within the retail motor sector with some significant outside factors making huge impacts to the overall profitability of our organisation.

“Multiple increases in interest rates through 2023 meant an additional 1.25% of financing costs on both our short and medium-term borrowings as well as our day-to-day inventory stocking facilities provided by our manufacturer partners.

“This burden added severe pressure to our fixed cost bases and was felt most within our sales departments,” it said in results filed at Companies House.

It said the government pivot on the 2035 ICE ban deadline had created a “level of apathy” towards EVS. That said it continues to invest in infrastructure and switching consumers to a richer mix of EVs, including new franchises for the group.

“Our group remains committed to expansion with new opportunities and in 2023 we welcomed the GWM ORA franchise and signed contracts to represent both Genesis and Omoda Jaecoo in 2024.

It said its Renault, Dacia and Hyundai businesses had performed well but MG was the top performer with retail sales up 93% for the period. Honda saw sales decline of 8% in new retail and 7% in used but there was a more positive outlook with new product was in the pipeline