Vertu has seen encouraging results in the new car market and it continues to have a resilient aftersales performance, despite Motability and used car headwinds
The group has posted a market update for the first three months of its new financial year, where it saw new car retail volumes up 7% year-on-year and market share gains helping offset tougher conditions elsewhere.
Used car volumes fell 3.8% amid tight supply and weaker demand, but improved margins lifted gross profit. Fleet and commercial sales rose 3%, and high-margin aftersales revenue grew 4.1%, driven by an ageing vehicle parc and ongoing service initiatives.
Motability volumes declined 23.2%, in part due to lower availability from traditional manufacturers, while the Group noted broader market shifts post-Covid.
Robert Forrester, Vertu chief executive, said: “Since the beginning of the financial year, a period which includes the important trading month of March, the group has traded well in a challenging macro-economic environment.
“New retail volumes are up materially with the group benefiting from market share gains and our high margin aftersales business continues its out-performance.
“This encouraging start to the year is balanced by ongoing headwinds of a challenging consumer and business environment and the Government’s ZEV mandate promoting accelerated electric car adoption.”
Vertu’s share buyback programme of £12 million capacity, announced in February 2025, has continued throughout the three month period with £4.5m of the programme utilised to date in the purchase of 7.8m shares for cancellation, leaving £7.5m to deploy.
Since the group started its share buyback programme in FY18, 18.5% of the Group’s issued share capital has been repurchased.
Vertu continues to be acquisitive and said it is “well positioned with stable management and a very strong balance sheet with low gearing to take advantage of opportunities as they arise”.