|
Caffyns PLC on Friday reported lower revenue and underlying earnings for its latest financial year. Shares in Caffyns fell 12% to 351.00 pence on Friday in London. The Eastbourne, Sussex-based car dealership chain reported a £1.7 million pretax loss for the 12 months ended March 31, against the previous year’s £246,000 profit. Revenue fell 1.7% to £270.7 million from £275.5 million, with new car unit deliveries falling 11%, although used car unit sales increased 4%. Aftersales revenue rose 6% to £32.7 million. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 36% to £3.6 million from £5.6 million. The measure represents operating profit before non-underlying items, which decreased 58% to £1.5 million from £3.5 million. ‘We faced significant trading headwinds during the financial year ended 31 March 2026 and have taken a number of actions to increase order take and reduce costs,’ commented Chief Executive Simon Caffyn. ‘These actions are delivering improvement.’ Caffyns said its priorities had included the procurement of quality used car stock at sensible prices, managing new and used inventory to reduce both stocking interest and depreciation costs of ageing stock, and general control on vehicle sales costs like marketing. Caffyns proposed a final dividend of 5.0p per share, taking the total dividend to 10.0p for the year. Both are unchanged from those for financial 2025. The company, looking ahead, believes its new car forward-order book is steady. However, it noted that trading conditions for the current year so far ‘have remained challenging, with inflationary pressures and high interest rates continuing to impact on our cost base.’ Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
