Inchcape PLC on Thursday said it delivered ‘another great set of results’ for 2022, noting robust customer demand following a prolonged period of supply shortages, which drove growth in both revenue and profit.

The London-based automotive distributor said pretax profit jumped to £399.7 million in 2022 from £181.3 million in 2021, while revenue from continuing operations climbed 18% to £8.13 billion from £6.90 billion.

Inchcape said revenue was driven by growth in both Distribution and Retail segments. In the Americas region, revenue was £1.45 billion, up 60% from £926.2 million a year earlier, while in the Europe & Africa region, revenue grew by 28% to £2.05 billion from £1.60 billion in 2021. In the Asia-Pacific region, revenue was up 8.8% to £2.34 billion from £2.15 billion.

Adjusted pretax profit was £373 million, up 50% from £249 million a year earlier, as adjusted operating profit grew by 46% to £411 million from £281 million.

Chief Executive Officer Duncan Tait said: ‘Inchcape delivered another great set of results in 2022, with strong performance across all regions. Excellent operational execution from our teams, coupled with robust consumer demand following a prolonged period of supply shortages, drove growth in revenue, profit and cash.’

The firm proposed a final dividend of 21.3 pence, which would bring its full-year payout to 28.8p, up 28% from 22.5p a year prior.

Looking forward, Inchape said it expects that new vehicle supply will continue to improve throughout 2023, and support a normalisation of order books. It added that trading to date in 2023 was been in-line with its expectations.

Shares were down 8.1% at 796.46 pence each on Thursday morning in London.

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