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Family-owned Vindis group turned in a strong performance in 2022 with pre-tax profits surging 39.2% to £10.3m on turnover ahead 4.4% to £378.2m.
The group, which has its head office in Huntingdon and trades across six counties, said it was satisfied with result given the macro-economic climate.
With new car supply problematic due to component shortages it shifted more resources into its used car business.
“We worked hard to increase our used vehicle volumes to help compensate for any shortfall in new cars.
“As the half year approached and the Bank of England base rate started to rise, our cost base came under pressure both directly from our vehicle stocking facility and indirectly through increased costs from suppliers.”
During the year it completed the sale and leaseback on five properties to fund a 50% share buyback and to clear all long-term debt.
“We timed the market well with proceeds exceeding original estimates which put additional cash in the bank.
“This allowed us to reduce the use of our overdraft facility saving interest costs,” it said in accounts filed at Companies House.
“Towards the end of the year used car prices, especially Electric Vehicles started to fall sharply due to several reasons, so the board decided to make a provision back to CAP clean (in previous years CAP retail had been used as this accurately reflected the market).
This impacted the financial performance but ensured that the company is well positioned moving into 2023.
“As a result, used car volume increased by circa 5%, however margins contracted due to being exceptionally high in the previous year. There was a reduction in new car volume however margins remained very strong. Aftersales turnover was up year on year with a circa 1% increase in hours sold.”
Vindis operates Audi, Bentley, Ducati, Škoda, SEAT, CUPRA, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.