Caffyns Shares Drop 8% Amid "Disappointing" Interim Performance

(Alliance News) - Shares in car retailer Caffyns PLC fell sharply Friday after "disappointing" results in which interim profit plummeted on lower revenue, although the firm remained confident for the future.

Shares in Caffyns were 8.4% lower at 380.00 pence in London on Friday.

For the year ended September, pretax profit narrowed sharply to GBP56,000 from GBP704,000 the year prior. This was after revenue fell 6.6% to GBP99.0 million from GBP106.0 million the year before.

"Whilst disappointing, the results should be read against a difficult economic and political background," Chief Executive Officer Simon Caffyn said. "This was compounded by supply problems for new cars. These supply issues have however improved, and we remain cautiously optimistic about the future outlook."

Caffyns proposed a 7.5 pence per share interim dividend, unchanged on the 7.5p paid the year prior.

"Despite a weak marketplace for the bi-annual registration plate change in September, we are cautiously optimistic about the future outlook," Simon Caffyn added. "However, our full year outcome will remain heavily dependent on the success of the next bi-annual registration plate change in March 2020 as well as on the wider challenges to the UK economy including uncertainty surrounding the Brexit process.

"Our balance sheet is appropriately funded and our freehold property portfolio is a source of stability," Simon Caffyn continued. We remain confident in the longer-term prospects for the company and ready to exploit future business opportunities as they may arise."

By Ahren Lester; ahrenlester@alliancenews.com

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