Motorpoint Group plc Half Year Trading Update (7356O)
October 05 2023 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMOTR
RNS Number : 7356O
Motorpoint Group plc
05 October 2023
5 October 2023
Motorpoint Group PLC
("Motorpoint" or the "Group")
Half Year Trading Update
Stronger quarter-on-quarter performance resulting from cost
reductions and operational improvements
Motorpoint Group PLC, the UK's leading independent omnichannel
vehicle retailer, provides an update on its trading performance for
the six months ended 30 September 2023 ("H1 FY24").
In our trading update on 26 July 2023, we reiterated that the
UK's difficult macroeconomic conditions continued to hamper our
growth and profitability. As a result, in Q1, we took swift,
decisive action to right-size the business to reflect the reduced
market size and ensure cash generative trading at lower levels of
group sales. Some of our actions included increasing retail margins
supported by the use of data to optimise selling prices, reducing
auction fees by securing a greater proportion of stock through
direct supply channels, streamlining our organisational structure,
pausing new store roll out and reducing discretionary capital
spend. Our right-sizing programme proved helpful to our performance
in Q2 as these difficult macro conditions continued.
As we have previously communicated, the affordability of used
vehicles has been adversely affected by high prices and increasing
APR finance rates, against the backdrop of continued consumer
uncertainty. In response, we have recently taken further action by
broadening our selling criteria to include vehicles up to five
years old and 50,000 miles, to help our customers find the right
vehicle in accordance with more constrained household budgets. We
anticipate used values will gradually align to historic levels as
new car supply continues to improve which will further enhance
affordability for our customers.
As a consequence of the margin improvement and cost base actions
we highlighted in July 2023, the underlying loss before taxation of
GBP3.1m incurred in Q1 narrowed to a small loss of c.GBP0.6m in Q2.
For the half year, the business made an underlying operating profit
of c.GBP1.6m before interest expense of GBP5.3m. We also incurred a
one-off exceptional charge of c.GBP1.0m which related to redundancy
costs.
Despite the current market challenges, we remain committed to
our long term growth aspirations, while focusing in the short term
on margin improvement, cost base management, and cash generation.
The Group generated net cash from operations in H1 FY24 and ended
the period with net cash of GBP11.0m (30 June 2023: GBP2.2m) with
further facility headroom of GBP35m available, demonstrating the
resilience of the business in difficult markets.
The strong cash position of the Group allowed us to continue
making targeted strategic investment, with further improvements in
technology involving both our retail and wholesale businesses, and
we opened our 20(th) store, in Ipswich, in May 2023. Our market
share of the 0-4 year old market increased to 3.4% for the 12
months to June 2023 (previous 12 months 3.2%).
The Group expects to announce its Interim Results on 23 November
2023.
Mark Carpenter, CEO of Motorpoint, said:
"The impacts of high inflation, interest rates, and consumer
uncertainty continue to affect demand for used cars. We have
responded by reducing our cost base and expanding our retail
criteria to help customers find the car of their choice at a price
they can afford. We have successfully preserved cash while making
progress on selective strategic initiatives, and are well
positioned to emerge from this difficult macroeconomic cycle a
leaner and more agile business, ready to seize the significant
opportunity as market conditions improve."
Enquiries:
Motorpoint Group PLC via FTI Consulting
Mark Carpenter, Chief Executive
Officer
Chris Morgan, Chief Financial
Officer
FTI Consulting (Financial PR)
Alex Beagley
Sam Macpherson
Harriet Jackson
Amy Goldup 020 3727 1000
Notes to editors
Motorpoint is the UK's leading independent E-commerce led
omnichannel vehicle retailer, focused on giving retail and trade
customers the easiest, most affordable and seamless way of buying,
selling and financing their car whether online, in store or a
combination of both. Through its leading B2C platform
Motorpoint.co.uk and UK network of 20 sales and collection stores,
the Group provides an unrivalled offering in the nearly new car
market, where consumers can effortlessly browse, buy or finance
their next car and collect or have it delivered directly to their
homes. Motorpoint's purely online wholesale platform
Auction4Cars.com sells vehicles into the wholesale B2B market that
have been part exchanged by retail customers, or purchased directly
from them by the Group as part of its online car buying service.
Motorpoint's diversified business model, underpinned by its
established brand, industry leading technology and sophisticated
marketing infrastructure, always delivers the best choice, value,
service and quality for customers. The Group is proud to have been
recognised for nine consecutive years as one of the Top 100 Best
Companies to Work For.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
UPDDZLFBXBLFFBF
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 05, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Motorpoint (LSE:MOTR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
Motorpoint (LSE:MOTR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024