Losses deepen at Cambria Automobiles in second year of trading after leaving stock market – Car Dealer Magazine

Cambria Automobiles saw its losses deepen in its second year of trading as a private company.

Newly published accounts for the company show that for the year ended August 31, 2023 it lost £1.366m before tax versus the £1.291m deficit of the previous financial year – a 6% drop.

That was on turnover that fell by 19% from £2.609m to £2.114m.

The accompanying directors’ report, signed by director Paul Buddin on behalf of the board, highlighted previous ‘exceptional market conditions’ which were ’caused by the unprecedented disruption to OEM supply chains causing an imbalance in supply and demand’.

It added: ‘Not only did this end discounting on new vehicles, with some being sold at a premium, it also resulted in increased used values up by approximately 38% over the two years.’

The average monthly number of employees fell by four to 38.

Cambria Automobiles, which comprises Grange, Invicta Motors (formerly Dees and Doves) and used car seller Motorparks, is the core division and a wholly owned subsidiary of Cambria Investments Holdings Ltd, whose brands also include Cambria Property Investments and Cambria Private Capital.

Invicta is partnered with Mazda and MG and recently agreed to represent Omoda and Jaeco, while Grange represents Aston Martin, Bentley, Ineos, Jaguar Land Rover, Lamborghini, McLaren and Rolls-Royce.

Meanwhile, Motorparks, which was launched in September 2023, aims ‘to achieve sustainability and net-zero emissions on every vehicle it provides’.

The strategic report says: ‘The directors are confident that this new approach to sustainable used car mobility will contribute positively to both the group’s financial and environmental results in the next financial year and will be another avenue of significant growth for Cambria.’

The overall controlling party of Cambria Automobiles is Mark Lavery, via his shareholding in Cambria Investments Holdings

Cambria Automobiles’ directors’ remuneration rose from £2.64m to £2.86m, with the highest-paid director receiving £900,000, which was down on 2022’s figure of £1.086m.

No ordinary dividends were paid, and the directors didn’t recommend paying a final dividend.

The results for Cambria Investments Holdings over the same period, which include those of Cambria Automobiles, show that although revenue went up by 8.7% from £566.2m to £615.6m, pre-tax profit fell by 20.6% from £26.2m to £20.8m.

Total units sold rose from 12,948 to 14,331 but Ebitda dropped by 7.2% from £30.6m to £28.4m, with return on sales declining from 5.11% to 4.16%.

The average monthly number of employees rose by 10 to 628.

The directors’ remuneration went up from £1.764m to £1.921m, with the figures for the highest-paid director the same as for Cambria Automobiles.

As with Cambria Automobiles, no ordinary dividends were paid, and the directors didn’t recommend paying a final dividend.

The strategic report, also signed off by Buddin for the board, said: ‘Cambria has benefited from an extraordinary 2.5 years in the industry, the likes of which has [sic] not been seen before.

‘This ended during the year ended 31 August 2023 and the year turned out to be a year of two halves; the second half was much tougher than the first.’

Among the reasons given were the cost-of-living crisis and increase in base interest rates, as well as volume returning to market after the Covid-related supply issues, meaning the supply-and-demand curve had been tipped ‘in favour of supply, which brings its own set of challenges’.

Looking ahead, the directors said: ‘The oversupply of the new car market, the correction of used car residuals and the cost-of-living crisis will continue to impact the group into the new financial year.

‘Whilst inflationary pressures have started to ease, the impact on the consumer is only just starting to filter through to the real economy. However, the group will continue to invest through the new financial year.’

Pictured at top via Google Street View is the Invicta Motors Mazda dealership in Maidstone