Vertu Motors (LON: VTU), the UK car retailer, reported a 19.0% rise in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit to £23.8m and said full-year results should come in above current expectations. The AIM-listed group, which runs 196 sales and aftersales outlets, published its unaudited interim results at 7am today, before the market opened.
The profit compares with £20.0m for the six months to the 31st of August last year. Revenue reached £2,596.5m, up 3.4%, which the company calls a record. Chief Executive Robert Forrester pointed to the repeated lift in the profit outlook.
The Group has now delivered three upgrades to current year profits since the start of the financial year.
Robert Forrester, Chief Executive
Vertu’s footnote puts the consensus of three sell-side analysts, as of yesterday, at £26.5m of full-year adjusted pre-tax profit, within a range of £25.5m to £27.1m.
Gross profit grew in every channel, rising 2.9% to £290.6m. Fleet car sales rose 30.5% on a like-for-like basis, against market growth of 8.4%, and used retail sales rose 3.7% like-for-like. Aftersales, which supplies more than 44% of group gross profit, edged up to £129.2m from £127.0m. Operating costs slipped to 9.9% of revenue from 10.0%, and net finance charges fell to £10.2m from £11.0m.
Cash improved sharply. Free cash flow was £17.5m, against £0.4m a year earlier, and net debt excluding leases dropped to £54.2m from £78.3m at the 31st of August last year. The interim dividend rises 11% to 1.00p, payable on the 15th of January 2027, and the share buyback continues.
| Measure | H1 2026-27 | H1 2025-26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £2,596.5m | £2,510.0m | +3.4% |
| Gross profit | £290.6m | £282.2m | +2.9% |
| Adjusted operating profit | £34.0m | £31.0m | +9.7% |
| Adjusted profit before tax | £23.8m | £20.0m | +19.0% |
| Profit after tax | £17.8m | £14.2m | +25.4% |
| Basic adjusted EPS | 5.71p | 4.57p | +1.14p |
| Interim dividend | 1.00p | 0.90p | +11% |
| Net debt (excl. leases) | £54.2m | £78.3m | -£24.1m |
Gross profit grew more slowly than revenue, but operating costs fell as a share of revenue and finance charges fell, so profit grew faster than sales from operating profit downwards.
Vertu said September, the busy plate-change month, was stronger than it anticipated, and the second half has started strongly. It now has 20 Chinese-brand outlets. It warned that pressure from the zero-emission vehicle mandate is likely to continue into 2030 even if revised, with a government consultation open until the 23rd of October, and that consumer demand, inflation and interest rates call for caution.
