Hendy Automotive is set to turn in a loss in 2024 due to poor new and used vehicle profitability. The loss was announced in financial results filed at Companies House for the previous year.
Hendy described 2024 as challenging and said the unaudited management accounts for the year to 31 December 2024 show a loss.
“Management have undertaken a complete review of the business and have implemented a number of trading improvement initiatives and cost reductions and are forecasting a return to profitability for the year to 2025,” it said.
“As a result of this loss, covenants for the year have been breached and waived and this has led to a covenants reset and results in new investment totaling £11.5m in the form of debt and equity by the shareholders, together with a sale of two properties and a significant reduction in the contributions made to the defined benefit pension scheme, which has been approved by the pension trustees.”
As previously reported in Motor Trader, Hendy Automotive has seen the group recruit new directors as it moved to a new regional model, announced in December 2024.
In February it announced the appointment of two new members to its operational board, as well as role changes for other members, all reporting to Duncan McPhee who became Chief Operating Officer last October.
And in March it bolstered its board with the appointment of Daksh Gupta as a non-executive chairman, replacing Simon Gulliford. He is joined by new non-executive directors Michael Buxton, the ex-president of Cox Automotive and Nigel Farrell, partner in law Firm Farrells Legal Services.
In the results filed at Companies House for 2023, profits fell 50.4% to £7.2m on turnover up 15.9% to £1.163bn.
Hendy said the profit fall was “acceptable” given the market turbulence in the second half of 2023 year with falling used car prices in the final quarter. It said the fall was particularly hard on premium cars and EVs. Nearly all dealers were hit hard in the second half by the fall in used car values.
The group said it continues to reshape the business with the acquisition of Poole Vauxhall in late 2023. During 2024 it added the Peugeot, Fiat and Citroen franchise to the site.
It completed the building of a new dealership in Eastleigh to accommodate Nissan, Renault, and Dacia and Alpine.
And it committed to new properties to upgrade representation for Ford, Kia and Mazda in Tunbridge Wells and to represent Vauxhall and Peugeot in Tonbridge.