HR Owen has released its 2011 financial results which show pre-tax profit dipped from £2m to £1.8m while turnover boosted 25% to £192.4m.

Profit before exceptional items, discontinued operations and tax totalled £1.6m, down marginally on 2010's £1.7m.

It came during a year when HR Owen took over the Bentley and Aston Martin businesses of Broughtons and invested in a Ferrari outlet at London's Berkeley hotel.

The AM100 group's chief executive, Joe Doyle, said the group enjoyed a strong performance in new car sales in 2011.

"Once again we outperformed the market in this key area and hope to build on
this in 2012, assisted by the contribution from the newly acquired
Broughtons' businesses, which will be rebranded in the near future.

"We are confident that our investments in support of the group's strategy 'Experience
is Everything' will deliver strong growth in the years ahead."

Chairman Jon Walden said while UK luxury car registrations fell 12% HR Owen bucked the trend with like-for-like double-digit growth in new car volumes.

However the success in new car sales, partly through converting used car customers, had meant a fall in the group's used car volumes.

Walden said HR Owen is progressing its strategy for consistent profitable growth, including investing in digital marketing and establishing prestige partnerships in adjacent luxury markets.

Trading in the first ten weeks of 2012 has started strongly, particularly for
new cars, and is ahead of both internal expectations and the prior year, Walden said.

He added: "We plan to generate profitable growth in our existing businesses, and have the resources to develop new opportunities as they arise."