Auto Trader in reverse after car supply dries up
ONLINE car dealer Auto Trader sank into the red after a hit from a shortage of new motors across the industry.
The FTSE 100 group said Autorama, the vehicle leasing business it bought in June last year, was affected by supply issues in the pick-up and van markets.
The platform posted an £11.2m loss in the year to the end of March and sales of £27.2m, below market expectations.
Soaring demand helped it sell cars at the fastest pace since it joined the London stock market in 2015.
But this weighed on the number of vehicles listed on the blue-chip firm’s website. Revenue rose 16pc to £500.2m, driven by higher sales in its core marketplace business. But profit fell 2pc to £293.6m.
Auto Trader added that new UK car registrations of 1.7m were 3pc above the year before but were still down 19pc compared to prepandemic levels amid supply constraints. Shares fell 3.4pc, or 21.4p, to 608.6p. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘Auto Trader’s website is the one most visited by prospective car buyers because it has the most listings.
‘Car retailers are therefore compelled to use its products, reinforcing its leading position.’
London stocks made a positive start to June, with the FTSE 100 up 0.6pc, or 44.13 points, to 7490.27 while the FTSE 250 rose 0.6pc, or 104.86 points, to 18,827.76.
Miners made gains on the back of higher metal prices.
Fresnillo added 4.5pc, or 29.2p, to 677.2p, Antofagasta was up by 3.2pc, or 42.5p, to 1380p and Rio Tinto climbed by 2.2pc, or 104p, to 4886p.
B&M rose 3.8pc, or 19.6p, to 529.4p after a hat-trick of broker upgrades, a day after the discount retailer had forecast higher profits for next year.
Likewise, WH Smith received a vote of confidence from the City following its positive update on Wednesday as Barclays raised the retailer’s target price to 2035p from 2010p. Shares rose 1.7pc, or 26p, to 1596p.
There was also good news for Convatec as Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the company, which makes high-tech bandages and wound dressings, to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal weight’ and increased the target price by 15p.
Shares gained 3.1pc, or 6.2p, to close at 209p.
The boss of ITM Power hailed the speed at which his green energy firm has reined in spending. Dennis Schulz, who took over in December last year, unveiled a 12-month plan at the start of 2023 to slow down cash consumption and expand facilities.
It came as results for the year to the end of April were likely to deliver revenues above the £2m which was pencilled in by analysts, losses in line with forecasts and £281m of cash, nearly £30m more than expected.
ITM Power shares fell by 1pc, or 0.68p, to 68.56p.
Ceres Power, the fuel cell developer, says that it is hoping to gain greater exposure and access to international investors by moving its shares from AIM to the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
The group, which joined AIM in 2004, expects to enter the mid-cap tier in September.
Its shares rose by 5.7p, or 15.8p, to 294.4p.
The bidding war for payments firm Network International will spill over into next week after the FTSE 250 firm extended the deadline to table formal bids from yesterday to June 9.
A consortium of CVC and Francisco Partners offered 387p a share, while Canadian giant Brookfield Asset Management offered 400p a share, or £2.1bn.
Network’s stock was down 1.6p, or 6p, to 360p.