CAMB.L Regulatory News (CAMB)

12 May 2015

Cambria Automobiles plc

("Cambria" or the "Group")

Unaudited Interim Results 2015

Cambria Automobiles plc (AIM: CAMB), the franchised motor retailer, is pleased to announce its un-audited interim results for the six months ended 28 February 2015, which show revenue and profits substantially ahead of the comparable period in the prior year.

Financial highlights:

· Revenue increased by 18.6% to £242.8m (H1 2014: £204.8m)

· Profit before tax up 63.8% at £3.3m (H1 2014: £2.0m)

· Earnings per share increased 66.0% to 2.59p (H1 2014: 1.56p)

· Net profit margin up 38.7% at 1.36% (H1 2014: 0.98%)

· Strong operational cash flows maintained, with a cash position of £13.0m (H1 2014: £13.0m) and net debt of £0.9m (H1 2014: £0.7m)

· Strong balance sheet with net assets of £30.4m (H1 2014: £25.8m)

· Interim dividend increased by 50% to 0.15p (H1 2014: 0.1p)

Operational highlights:

· New vehicle sales up 15.6% - well ahead of overall growth in the UK market of 8.2%

· Used vehicle sales up 2.9% with an 8.2% improvement in profit per unit

· Aftersales revenue increased by 6.2% with gross profit improvement of 6.9%

· Barnet acquisition delivered a positive contribution in line with our expectations

Post Period End:

· The Group acquired its second Land Rover dealership which is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing

· Trading in the key plate change month of March was ahead of plan

Mark Lavery, Chief Executive of Cambria, said:

"Cambria continues to develop its existing business and to deliver further growth through acquisitions. The acquisition of the Jaguar Land Rover business in Barnet in July 2014 followed by the acquisition of our second Land Rover business located in Swindon on 30 April, align with the strategy we laid out in 2013; namely to invest in premium and luxury franchises that fit with our geographical locations and deliver immediate earnings enhancement. The Board continues to focus on opportunities to strengthen the Group's position in luxury and premium brands and is actively pursuing acquisition opportunities which have the potential to fulfil these ambitions.

"The Group's performance in the all-important month of March was both ahead of our business plan and the previous year. The Board is confident that Cambria will maintain this momentumand continue to deliver an improved performance across all of its activities."

Enquiries:

About Cambria

www.cambriaautomobilesplc.com

Cambria was established in 2006 with a strategy to build a balanced motor retail group, through close cooperation with its manufacturer partners and the acquisition and turnaround of underperforming businesses.

The Group now comprises 29 dealerships, representing 46 franchises and 18 brands, in a balanced portfolio spanning the high luxury, premium and volume segments.

The Group operates dealerships across England with a geographical spread from the North West through the Midlands, down to Kent in the South East and across as far as Exeter in the South West, trading under local brand names, including, County Motor Works, Dees, Doves, Grange, Invicta, Motorparks and Pure Triumph.

Cambria's brand portfolio currently comprises Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Chrysler Jeep, Citroen, Dacia, Ford, Fiat, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Nissan, Renault, Seat, Triumph, Vauxhall and Volvo.

The Group's success in turning around underperforming dealerships has enabled Cambria to build a strong balance sheet. As a result, as well as looking at the acquisition of underperforming dealerships, the Group is now in a position to consider acquisitions which are earnings enhancing from the outset, further strengthening Cambria's brand portfolio mix and progressing towards its stated ambition to create a Group with annual revenues of over £1 billion.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW

Introduction

I am pleased to report that in the period the Group has delivered another strong set of results across all areas of the business. These strong results build on the substantial improvements in operating and financial performance achieved in the full year ended 31 August 2014.

This performance wasdelivered against a buoyant new car market in the UK, which has been aided by favourable exchange rates and a low interest rate environment.

Financials

Highlights:

Operating profit was £3.7m (H1 2014: £2.2m), which resulted in an improved operating margin of 1.5% (H1 2014: 1.1%). Earnings per share were 2.59p per share (H1 2014: 1.56p), a significant increase of 66.0%.

Gross profit increased by 13.4% to £29.6m (H1 2014: £26.1m) but due to the increased revenue derived from the new vehicle business, which operates at lower margins in comparison with both the used car and aftersales departments, the overall gross profit margin across the Group for the period decreased slightly to 12.2% (H1 2014: 12.7%).

There were no expenses which the Board considered to be non-recurring in the period. Net finance expenses for the period increased to £0.41m (H1 2014: £0.23m), reflecting the interest on the loans drawn down in the previous financial year for the acquisition of the three properties (comprising Warrington and Croydon which were previously leased and the Barnet freehold) and increased consignment stock interest charges in the period. The tax charge for the period of £0.72m represents an effective tax rate of 21.84% (H1 2014: 22.95%).

Balance Sheet

Cambria has a robust balance sheet with net assets of £30.4m (H1 2014: £25.8m), underpinned by £35.1m of freehold and long leasehold property. Following the acquisition of the Barnet Land Rover and Jaguar business in July 2014 the Group now has £5.3m of goodwill on the balance sheet. Mortgages amounting to £13.9m are secured against the freehold and long leasehold properties.

The net debt of the Group as at 28 February 2015, was £0.9m (H1 2014: £0.7m), reflecting gross debt of £13.9m (H1 2014: £13.7m) and the cash position of £13.0m (H1 2014: £13.0m).

Cash Flow

Operating cash generation continues to be a key strength of the business and during the period, the Group generated an operating cash inflow of £4.8m (H1 2014: £3.6m).

As a Group Cambria is committed to investing in its dealerships, to sustain and improve franchise standards. During the period there has been £0.4m of capital expenditure and we have submitted the planning application for the substantial redevelopment of our Barnet facility for Jaguar Land Rover to create a state of the art dealership. The capital expenditure for this, which is estimated at £5m, will fall into the 2015/16 financial year.

The Group did not draw down any new loan facilities during the period, and serviced debt with £1m of mortgage repayments and £0.18m of interest associated with the mortgages. A dividend of £0.5m, relating to the 2014 financial year, was paid in January 2015, following approval at the AGM.

The total net cash inflow for the period was £2.7m (H1 2014: £1.8m outflow).

Dividend

The Board is pleased to announce a 50% increase in the Group's interim dividend to 0.15p per share (H1 2014: 0.1p per share). The dividend will be payable on 17 June 2015 to those shareholders on the register on 22 May 2015, with an ex-dividend date of 21 May 2015. The Board intends to maintain a progressive dividend policy for the full financial year when compared to the cumulative 0.6p per share paid out in respect of the 2014 financial year. However, as previously stated, the Board will ensure that the payment of a dividend does not detract from its primary aim to utilise available funds to continue to grow the business through a buy-and-build strategy.

Acquisitions

Cambria's strategy is to build on the favourable mix of its portfolio and maintain a good balance of high luxury, premium and volume brands. The Board was therefore pleased to announce on 1 May 2015 that it completed the acquisition of the trade and assets of the Land Rover franchise in Royal Wootton Bassett, Swindon from TH White Limited, for a total cash consideration of £7.56m. This is Cambria's second Land Rover franchise.

The consideration for the acquisition comprised £2.25m for the freehold property, £0.07m for fixed assets, £2.24m for used and demonstrator vehicles parts stock and apportionments therefore resulting in £3m of goodwill. It is the Group's intention to draw down a new £1.575m term loan in respect of the freehold property acquired, with the balance of the consideration satisfied using the Group's existing financing facilities.

The Group also announced its intention to relocate the newly acquired Land Rover operation to a redeveloped site alongside its existing Jaguar dealership in Swindon. The new, combined facility will be developed over the next two years.

Operations

New Vehicle Sales

New vehicle revenue increased by 31.0% to £109.4m (H1 2014: £83.5m) with total new vehicle sales volume up 15.6%. The new vehicle gross profit margin was 6.6% (H1 2014: 6.7%) and there was a £1.6m increase in gross profit. On a like for like basis, excluding the impact of Barnet, our new volumes rose by 8.8%.

This performance was delivered against a backdrop of an 8.2% year-on-year increase in new car registrations in the UK for the period 1 September 2014 to 28 February 2015. The private registrations element of the new car market increased 6% year-on-year. The Group's Brand Partners saw a combined 8.1% increase in their total registrations during the course of the period. The Group's sale of new vehicles to private individuals was 12.7% higher year-on-year at 4,585 units, supported by strong consumer offers from the manufacturers. New commercial vehicle sales increased by 35.2% to 511 units whilst new fleet vehicle sales increased by 36.4% to 266 units. Increased growth in these two areas is expected to continue.

Used Vehicle Sales

We have delivered another good performance in used vehicle sales. Revenues increased by 11.2% to £109.6m (H1 2014: £98.6m) and the number of units sold rose by 2.9%. The gross profit on used vehicles increased by 11.2% to £9.9m (H1 2014: £8.9m), with the profit per unit sold increasing by 8.3%. Excluding the impact of Barnet, our used volumes remained static at 6,905 units but profit per unit increased by 7.7%.

Aftersales

Aftersales revenue increased 6.2% year on year to £29.0m (H1 2014: £27.3m), and the related gross profit increased to £12.4m (H1 2014: £11.6m). Excluding the impact of Barnet, service hours were in line with the previous year. The total aftersales margin increased from 42.4% to 42.8%. The aftersales departments contributed 42% of the Group's overall gross profit.

Guest Experience

The Group continues to review its processes for ensuring that it engages with all its Guests to maximise the interaction opportunities through the Guest Relationship Management programme. This is Cambria's contact strategy, which involves the sale of our Warranty 4 Life product, service plans and delivery of service and MOT reminders in a structured manner, utilising all forms of digital media and traditional communication methods.

Outlook

The UK market has now enjoyed 36 months of year-on-year growth in new car registrations to the end of February 2015 and this momentum was maintained during the crucial plate change month of March, which produced the largest number of new car registrations since the twice yearly plate change was introduced in 1999. March saw 492,744 registrations, up 6% year-on-year. The current Economic landscape with low interest rates and a favourable exchange rate against the Euro is allowing vehicle manufacturers to continue to deliver strong consumer offers, which represent attractive propositions for Guests to acquire new cars. Manufacturers continue to have both vehicle availability and strong consumer offers and so we expect that volumes in the new car market in the UK will remain robust.

Cambria continues to develop its existing business and to deliver further growth through acquisitions. The acquisition of the Jaguar Land Rover business in Barnet in July 2014 followed by the acquisition of our second Land Rover business located in Swindon on 30 April, align with the strategy we laid out in 2013; namely to invest in premium and luxury franchises that fit with our geographical locations and deliver immediate earnings enhancement. The Board continues to focus on opportunities to strengthen the Group's position in luxury and premium brands and is actively pursuing acquisition opportunities which have the potential to fulfil these ambitions.

The Group's performance in the all-important month of March was both ahead of our business plan and the previous year. The Board is confident that Cambria will maintain this momentumand continue to deliver an improved performance across all its activities.

Mark Lavery

Chief Executive

12 May 2015

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

for the six months ended 28 February 2015

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

for the six months ended 28 February 2015

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

as at 28 February 2015

Consolidated Cash flow statement

for the six months ended 28 February 2015

Notes

1 General information

Cambria Automobiles plc is a company which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and is incorporated and domiciled in the United Kingdom. The address of the registered office is Swindon Motor Park, Dorcan Way, Swindon, SN3 3RA. The registered number of the company is 05754547.

These interim financial statements as at and for the six months ended 28 February 2015 comprise the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the "Group") and have been prepared in accordance with Adopted International Financial Reporting Standards as Adopted by the EU ("Adopted IFRS").

The financial statements for the period ended 28 February 2015 have neither been audited nor reviewed by the auditors. The financial information for the year ended 31 August 2014 has been based on information in the audited financial statements for that period.

This unaudited interim financial report does not comply with IAS 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' which is not required to be applied under the AIM rules.

2 Accounting policies

The Group's principal activity is the sale and servicing of motor cars and the provision of ancillary services.

The accounting policies adopted in this interim financial report are consistent with the Group's financial report for the year ended 31 August 2014 and can be found on our website:

 www.cambriaautomobilesplc.com.

Notes (continued)

3 Operating Segments

Segmental reporting

The Group complies with IFRS 8 'Operating Segments' which determines and presents operating segments based on information presented to the Groups Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM"), the Chief Executive Officer. The Group is operated and managed on a Dealership by Dealership basis. The CODM receives information both on a dealership basis and by revenue stream (New, Used, Aftersales). Given the number of dealerships, it was deemed most appropriate to present the information by revenue stream for the purposes of segmental analysis.

The CODM reviews the performance of the business in terms of both net profit before tax and EBITDA, as such the following table shows a reconciliation of EBITDA to the Profit before tax.

Notes (continued)

4 Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to equity shareholders by the number of ordinary shares in issue in the period. There is one class of ordinary share with 100,000,000 shares in issue.

There are no dilutive share options in issue.

5 Taxation

The tax charge for the six months ended 28 February 2015 has been provided at the effective rate of 21.84% (H1 2014: 22.95%).