Autotrader has reported a fall in operating profit and revenue in its latest financial results, despite dealer customer numbers starting to recover from a drop around the end of 2025.
The company has published results for the first half of the 2026/27 financial year, including a 1% year-on-year decline in group operating profit, from £200.1 million to £198.5 million, and a 1% fall in group revenue, from £317.7 million to £313.4 million – although the company points out that excluding vehicle and accessory sales revenue increased from £301.2 million to £301.8 million. Vehicle and accessory sale revenue is reported as down by 30% – the accounts no longer list Autorama, the Autotrader-owned operation behind Vanarama, as a separate entity.
Autotrader has also reported a 5% year-on-year increase in basic earnings per share, from 17.26 to 18.10p.
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Autotrader attributed its quoted revenue increase to having “worked through retailer feedback regarding our Deal Builder product roll-out in November 2025”. It said it had around 9,300 dealer customers active on Deal Builder, up from around 4,000 in September 2025, and added that it expected to have all its customers using “some form of the product” by the end of the current financial year.
Autotrader said that having lost “more retailers than usual” between November 2025 and January 2026 – dates that saw the height of controversy around the introduction of Deal Builder – it had since seen 29% of those that left at that time return, while 17% were yet to return and 54% were no longer trading. It said its retailer forecourt numbers had increased from 13,600 at the end of March to 13,900 at the end of September – although the H1 2026/27 average of 13,762 was still down on the 14,080 seen in H1 2025/26. Average revenue per retailer has increased by 1% year-on-year to £3,037.
Autotrader said its market position with car buyers had continued to strengthen, with buyers spending 12 times as much time on its platform than its nearest competitor, up from nine times as much a year earlier.
Autotrader seeks retailer collaboration
Nathan Coe, chief executive officer at Autotrader, said: “Despite a challenging start to the year, we’ve worked closely with our retailer partners, listened to their feedback, and now the majority are back working with Autotrader.
“We are totally focused on doing the best job we can for retailers, which starts with providing them with a platform that has 12 times more time spent on it than our nearest competitor.
“We feel the time is perfect for us to work together with retailers, bringing our data, technology and AI capability together with the brilliant service they provide to car buyers to make the car buying and retailing experience more rewarding for everyone in the UK.”
Coe said that Autotrader had put a particular focus on holding more discussions with a broader range of retailers.
He said: “Our customer advisory groups are an important part of that, giving retailers a direct voice in how we develop our products and helping us understand the different needs of businesses across the market.
“This has already translated into changes to the platform and our roadmap moving forward, the recent changes to Price Indicator being one example. That commitment is reflected in our retailer numbers, which have recovered through the year.
“Our priority now is to keep strengthening those relationships – listening carefully, being transparent and making sure the value of our partnership is clear in the day-to-day running of their businesses.”
Autotrader eyes AI-based future
Deal Builder is part of the Autotrader Intelligence offering, which Autotrader says will see it transition from a listings marketplace to an “active, AI-powered platform”, with 57 specialised AI models.
It says dealers will benefit from an “AI-native retailer operating system” with services from recommended actions all the way through to full automation across inventory management, listing creation, dynamic pricing and lead triage.
Coe said: “Our ambition is to make Portal an AI-native retailer operating system. For a retailer, that should mean less time moving between systems and doing manual tasks, and more time buying and selling cars.
“It’s about turning insight into action – whether that’s deciding what to stock, getting an advert live or knowing which buyer to call first.
“We’re investing for the long term because we see a real opportunity to support our partners in running more efficient, more profitable businesses.”