Caffyns, the south-east England franchised motor dealer, swung to an underlying pre-tax loss of £1.5 million in the year ended 31 March, against an underlying profit of £0.6 million a year earlier, as an 11% decline in new car unit deliveries overwhelmed gains elsewhere in the business.
Revenue fell 2% to £270.7 million from £275.5 million, with the shortfall entirely attributable to the drop in new car sales volumes, as brands Caffyns represents lost ground to Chinese market entrants.
Aftersales provided the clearest bright spot, with revenues rising 6% to £32.7 million and service revenues up 8%, while used car unit volumes grew 4%, partly driven by expanded CUPRA and SEAT representation; unit margins on used cars fell 5%, however.
Underlying EBITDA halved to £3.6 million from £5.6 million in the prior year, and the statutory loss before tax was deepened by £234,000 of non-underlying charges.
Net bank borrowings fell to £7.3 million from £8.5 million, with gearing reducing to 24% from 29%, and the defined benefit pension deficit narrowed sharply to £1.4 million from £4.5 million.
HSBC waived covenant tests during the year and has since extended the facility review date to April 2028; quarterly EBITDA hurdles have been set for the year ending 31 March 2027, which the board said it is confident of achieving.
"We faced significant trading headwinds during the financial year ended 31 March and have taken a number of actions to increase order take and reduce costs," said chief executive Simon Caffyn. "These actions are delivering improvement."
The new car forward-order book is described as steady, though trading conditions early in the current financial year remain challenging.
