Inchcape PLC on Thursday said half-year growth was fuelled by the recent acquisition of a Latin American automobile distributor.

Shares in Inchcape were up 10% to 860.57 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

In the six months to June 30, the London-based automobile distributor said pretax profit from continuing operations grew by 8.5% to £204 million from £188 million a year prior, as revenue in the half-year period jumped by 45% to £5.63 billion from £3.89 billion from the year before.

This was largely driven by the successful integration of Quilicura, Chile-based automotive distributor Derco, which it bought for £1.3 billion in January.

Inchcape hiked its interim dividend by 28% to 9.6p per share from 7.5p per share in the first half of 2022.

Looking ahead to full year 2023, Inchcape said its adjusted pretax profit is expected to fall at the top end of market forecasts of around £470 million and £506 million, up from £373 million in 2022.

Chief Executive Officer Duncan Tait said: ‘This first half performance highlights Inchcape’s continued commercial momentum, supported by our global scale and long-standing original equipment manufacturer relationships, underpinned by a highly differentiated technology platform.

‘We are uniquely placed to deliver outstanding performance for our original equipment manufacturer partners and drive consolidation in a highly fragmented market, supporting sustainable growth and value for our stakeholders. As a result, we remain confident in our medium-term outlook.’

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