Motorpoint hauls in £21.5 million profit from used car sales

Used car dealer group Motorpoint has more than doubled its profits year-on-year, bringing them back to levels last seen before the pandemic.

The independent motor retailer’s profit before tax reached £21.5 million in the year ended March 31, 2022, compared to £9.7m in the previous year when trading was impacted by UK lockdowns.

Revenues rose 83% year-on-year from £721.4m to £1.32 billion, from 14 dealerships, due to a combination of market share growth and vehicle price inflation, Motorpoint said.

Prior to the pandemic's impact, Motorpoint recorded £22.9m PBT and £1.06bn revenues with a network which at the time totalled 12 car supermarkets in the 2018/19 financial year.

Its latest report shows that its e-commerce revenue had risen 43% to £624.9m of its £1.3bn total in 2021/22, however as a proportion of full year retail revenues it has dropped from 73.6% to 56.2%, signballing that many consumers are still more comfortable buying their used car in a visit to an actual dealership.

Some £210m of its revenue was generated through wholesale vehicle sales – Motorpoint owns the Auction4Cars.com platform which sells its part-exchange vehicles to other motor retailers for stock, and which has now been upgraded to also allow third party vendors to sell stock to traders.

Motorpoint chief executive Mark Carpenter said: “We have always successfully adapted our business to meet every challenge and remain profitable since our inception 24 years ago. 

"I am extremely pleased with the progress we have made on our medium term strategic objectives and am convinced Motorpoint will be a winner in these rapidly evolving markets.”

Motorpoint’s ambition is to increase annual revenues past the £2bn mark while delivering a pain-free omnichannel experience for car buyers.

It increased its overall sales volumes by 44.7% in the year to 97,700 units, of which 62,900 were retail sales (up 45.9% YOY) and 34,800 trade sales (up 42.6% YOY).

Average days in stock reduced to 54 from 67, and retail gross profit per unit increased 15.3% to £1,446 from £1,254.

In 2021 Motorpoint began actively marketing to buy cars from consumers, and its report shows it acquired 11,300 vehicles, which alongside part-exchanges helped to increase its proportion of retail vehicles sold that were sourced from consumers to 17.9% from 8.3% the prior year.

Motorpoint has expanded its dealership network further this year, to 17 showrooms, after new openings in Portsmouth (pictured), Manchester and Maidstone, some of which are smaller scale that its traditional car supermarket sites but which still offer choice through its omnichannel retail strategy.

Opening another vehicle preparation centre in Motherwell in August 2021 added 20,000 units of extra capacity, and now Motorpoint could prepare more than 120,000 vehicles a year.

Carpenter added: "We are building a market leader with a disciplined operating culture, and we are confident in the plan we laid out a year ago. Despite the ongoing uncertainty, we will continue to invest in our business with the consumer front of mind, in order to realise our long term ambition of increased market share through price leadership, while remaining profitable.

"Our team continue to inspire me with their passion for our business and our customers and I’d like to thank them for building such an impressive business.

"We have achieved significant growth and market share gains in the year; our price leadership, strong customer service and focus on maintaining a highly engaged team will continue to substantially grow the business in the years ahead.”