CAMB.L Regulatory News (CAMB)

9 May 2017

Cambria Automobiles plc

("Cambria" or the "Group")

Unaudited Interim Results 2017

Cambria Automobiles plc (AIM: CAMB), the franchised motor retailer, is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 28 February 2017, which again show revenue and profits substantially ahead of the comparable period in the prior year.

Financial highlights:

· Revenue increased by 11.0% to £309.1m (H1 2016: £278.4m)

· Underlying profit before tax up 21.7% at £5.6m (H1 2016: £4.6m)

· Underlying earnings per share increased 19.5% to 4.41p (H1 2016: 3.69p)

· Underlying net profit margin up to 1.8% (H1 2016: 1.67%)

· Positive operational cash flows maintained, with a cash position of £17.2m (H1 2016: £25.3m) and net cash of £3.3m (H1 2016 net cash: £0.3m)

· Strong balance sheet with net assets of £45.8m (H1 2016: £37.6m)

· Rolling twelve month return on equity* of 21.76% (H1 2016: 21.15%)

· Interim dividend increased by 25% to 0.25p (H1 2016: 0.2p)

Operational highlights:

· New vehicle unit sales were down 4.6% (like-for-like down 12.4%) in the period, but the impact was more than offset by a substantial increase in average profit per unit as a result of improved portfolio mix and annual volume bonus achievements

· Used vehicle unit sales down 1.2% (like-for like up 1.3%) offset by an improvement in profit per unit

· Aftersales revenue increased by 9.9% (LFL up 1.8%) with a gross profit improvement

· Our Barnet Jaguar Land Rover site is nearing completion after a complex build process, this provides a great facility to realise the potential for this territory

· Our most recent acquisitions, Welwyn Garden City Land Rover, Woodford Jaguar Land Rover and Birmingham Aston Martin are progressing well

· Swindon Motor Park, the Group's first business, was closed to make way for the Swindon Jaguar Land Rover dealership development on its site - development is set to begin imminently

· Appointments of Paul McGill and William Charnley as Non-Executive Directors, further strengthening the Board

Post-period end:

· Trading in the combined months of March and April was in line with previous year 

* underlying profit after tax as a proportion of Average Shareholder's funds

Mark Lavery, Chief Executive of Cambria, said:

"I am pleased with the Group's financial performance in the first half in which we delivered 21.7% profit growth in an uncertain consumer environment. Following on from the significant number of acquisitions, site openings and disposals completed in the 2016 financial year, the aim for the current year is to continue integrating these businesses and progressing our property developments. This in turn will help to realise the full potential of these acquisitions and to increase their operational capacity. We are making good inroads into both of these areas.

"Whilst the Board remains cautious, we are pleased that Cambria's performance in the combined months of March and April was in line with the previous year. We are therefore confident that the full year results will be slightly ahead of the current market expectations".

Enquiries:

About Cambria - www.cambriaautomobilesplc.com

Cambria Automobiles ("Cambria") was established in March 2006 with the aim of creating a balanced independent UK motor retail group through a self-funded "buy and build" strategy.

Working in close cooperation with its manufacturer partners, the Group has built a balanced portfolio of 31 luxury, premium and volume dealerships, representing 45 franchises and 16 brands, with geographical representation spanning from the North West to the South East in Kent. These businesses are autonomous and trade 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, Dacia, Ford, Fiat, Honda, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Mazda, Nissan, Renault, Triumph, Vauxhall and Volvo.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW

Introduction

I am pleased to report another strong set of results, delivering underlying profit before tax of £5.6m, a 21.7% increase on the previous year. The results in the first half of our 2017 financial year have sustained the momentum that we had throughout our 2016 financial year. The Group continued to perform well operationally whilst focusing on the integration of the acquisitions and site openings from the previous year. The core businesses performed well and we continue to make positive strides forward. These factors have resulted in the Group extending its track record of delivering a strong return on shareholders' funds which was 21.76% for the rolling twelve months.

Financial highlights:

*Underlying numbers exclude non-recurring expense of £0.1m in 2017 relating to the Swindon closure, and net income of £1.1m in 2016 relating to Acquisition expenses and significant profit on disposal of businesses in that period

Underlying profit before tax was up 21.7% to £5.6m (H1 2016: £4.6m) with net profit margin improving to 1.8% as the growth of the Group delivered increased overhead recovery across the business.

Underlying operating profit increased 16% to £5.8m (H1 2016: £5.0m), which resulted in an improved operating margin of 1.88% (H1 2016: 1.8%). Underlying earnings per share were 4.41p (H1 2016: 3.69p), a significant increase of 19.5%.

Gross profit increased by 8.4% to £36.1m (H1 2016: £33.3m) with increases across all divisions. With the revenue mix continuing to shift towards new vehicles which operate at lower margins to both the used vehicle and aftersales departments, as expected the overall blended gross profit margin across the Group for the period showed a modest decline over the previous period at 11.7% (H1 2016: 11.9%).

The Board considered the expenses of £0.1m, incurred in the period in closing the Swindon Motor Park site to be non-recurring. In the prior year comparative, the expense in acquiring the Welwyn Garden City Land Rover business and the profit on the sale of its Exeter Jaguar branch were considered to be non-recurring income in the period. These items generated a non-recurring net income of £1.098m in the 2016 period.

Net finance expenses for the period decreased to £0.24m (H1 2016: £0.37m), reflecting the reduced interest cost of the loans drawdown and better new vehicle consignment stock control. The tax charge for the period of £1.15m represents an effective tax rate of 20.88% (H1 2016: 20.43%).

Balance sheet

Cambria has a robust balance sheet with net assets of £45.8m (H1 2016: £37.6m), underpinned by £44.1m of freehold and long leasehold property. At the balance sheet date, mortgages amounting to £13.95m were drawn.

The Group had a net cash position as at 28 February 2017 of £3.3m (H1 2016, net cash: £0.3m), reflecting gross debt of £13.95m (H1 2016: £24.95m) and the cash position of £17.3m (H1 2016: £25.3m).

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 £8.0m (H1 2016: £9.9m).

As a Group, Cambria is committed to investing in its dealerships to increase capacity and comply with manufacturer brand standards. During the period there has been £4.2m of capital expenditure incurred and a number of other development projects initiated. The major redevelopment of our Barnet Jaguar Land Rover site began in February 2016 and will be complete by the end of May 2017. There has been a number of other site refurbishment projects progressed in the period. The Swindon Jaguar Land Rover development will commence in May 2017 with the aim of being in occupation in advance of March 2018.

During the period the Group made its normal capital repayments of £0.5m on its term loans and fully repaid £5m of the Revolving Credit Facility that it had drawn to support the acquisition of the Woodford Jaguar Land Rover business in July 2016. A dividend of £0.7m, relating to the 2016 financial year, was paid in January 2017 following approval at the Annual General Meeting.

The total net cash outflow for the period was £2.6m (H1 2016: inflow £9.9m).

The major development of our Barnet Jaguar Land Rover property began in February 2016. As a result of some small delays in the programme, we took the decision not to take occupation of the showroom in the important plate change month of March, with occupation of the facility in April 2017. There are some ongoing external works to the site which will be completed by the end of May 2017. There has been a significant amount of disruption to the operation of the Barnet business during the building project as we have maintained the sales business on the development plot with the contractors working around our operation. The team at the site have done an excellent job in maintaining a level of service for our Guests in a very difficult set of circumstances and whilst the building project has significantly impacted the profitability of the site, it has remained profitable and now has a world class facility to operate from and maximise the opportunity in its territory. The total build cost for the site is £7m, of which £6.3m has been incurred at the half year point with a further £0.7m to pay to completion. Post period end we have drawn down £3.5m of the RCF to fund the development.

Dividend

The Board is pleased to declare a 25% increase in the Group's interim dividend to 0.25p per share (H1 2016: 0.2p per share). The dividend will be payable on 16 June 2017 to those shareholders on the register on 19 May 2017. The Board intends to maintain a progressive dividend policy for the full 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 ongoing strategy is to build on the favourable mix of its brand portfolio and maintain a good balance of high luxury, premium and volume brands and it has made good progress over the past three years in delivering on this strategy by acquiring:

· Barnet Jaguar Land Rover in July 2014

· Swindon Land Rover in April 2015

· Welwyn Garden City Land Rover in January 2016

· Woodford Jaguar Land Rover in July 2016

The Group was also successfully awarded the territory for Aston Martin in the Birmingham area and has acquired and refurbished a temporary facility for Aston Martin in the Solihull area. The temporary site opened in May 2016.

Capital commitments

In line with the Jaguar Land Rover ("JLR") network strategy and corporate identity requirements, all of its JLR facilities are to be co-located on the same site and developed in line with the Arch-concept. The acquisitions and disposals made over the past 3 years have ensured that we have the operating business for both Jaguar and Land Rover under our common ownership in the territories that we represent JLR. The next action is to ensure that the properties that we operate from are compliant with the Arch- concept requirements. Therefore at the time of acquisition of the businesses above, we committed to delivering property developments in line with the JLR corporate identity requirement.

The Barnet site development is almost complete as outlined above. The planning process for the delivery of our new Swindon Jaguar Land Rover development has been ongoing for some time whilst we have been working with the Highways and the Environment Agency to ensure that the development of our site integrates with other major developments that are taking place around the Swindon area. The planning process has taken much longer than anticipated, however, we are now nearing its end and intend to have contractors on site by the end of May 2017. It is our intention to be operating in the completed facility by February 2018. The anticipated cost of this building and corporate identity fit out is c.£6.0m. As part of the banking package negotiated in November 2015, there is a £3.5m revolving credit facility for drawdown against this project. Once the £3.5m RCF facility has been drawn, the total £7m RCF for Barnet and Swindon will convert to a term loan.

We are in the process of acquiring land in the Welwyn Garden City territory for the development of the new Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin facilities, and in Solihull for the New Aston Martin business. The total purchase and development cost anticipated for the Welwyn Garden City site is c.£16m, and the Solihull site is c.£4.5m. We are aiming to complete these developments before the end of calendar year 2018.

Disposals

During the period the Group concluded the closure of its Swindon Motor Park operation. Whilst there was no formal sale of the business, the Associates that were employed directly in the SEAT business that occupied the site were transferred to another local dealer under TUPE. The closure of this business makes the land previously occupied by Swindon Motor Park available for the development of the new Jaguar Land Rover facility.

In the previous year, and again in line with the Jaguar Land Rover strategy, the Group concluded the sale of its Exeter Jaguar resulting in a net profit on disposal of the branch of £1.1m. The Group also sold the Croydon Jaguar business in H2 2015/16 resulting in a profit on disposal of £0.7m. Both of these profits on disposal were highlighted as non-recurring income in the 2016 financial results.

Strategy delivery

The 2016 financial year was the Group's tenth anniversary and, from the original base of £10.8m of share capital, the Group delivered an underlying profit before tax of £10.6m for the full year. Maintaining its capital disciplines, the Group has continued to invest in and develop businesses that will generate an excellent return for its shareholders. The focused acquisition strategy implemented in 2013 to enhance the mix of businesses with more premium and high luxury dealerships acquired from self-generated funds has enabled the Group to substantially increase its profit levels and drive strong returns on shareholders' funds which were 21.76% on a rolling 12 month basis to 28 February 2017. The first half of the current financial year has continued the year on year profit growth, and with the enhancements to the property portfolio, we anticipate seeing more operational potential for the Group.

Board appointments

The Group announced the appointments of Paul McGill and William Charnley to the Board as Non-Executive Directors during the period. Paul was most recently Head of Projects at Lloyds Banking Group, where he was responsible for promoting the Black Horse Consumer Finance brand across the Group, leading new business initiatives and recruiting key individuals to the business. William has over 20 years' experience in public and private mergers and acquisitions, disposals, flotations, private equity transactions and general corporate and securities advice. Both bring to the Group a vast amount of experience, knowledge and expertise of the motor retail industry which will complement the existing management team and further strengthen the Board.

Operations

New vehicles sales

New vehicle revenue increased by 9.6% to £143.5m (H1 2016: £130.9m) with total new vehicle sales volume down 4.6%. The new vehicle gross profit margin was 7.8% (H1 2016: 6.7%) and there was a £2.4m increase in gross profit. The average profit per unit sold increased by 33.7%, a combination of like-for-like increase and strengthening mix from the JLR and Aston Martin businesses acquired as this product typically sells at higher price points.

On a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of the Welwyn Garden City, Woodford and Birmingham acquisitions and Swindon Motor Park closure, our new volumes reduced by 12.4% with gross profit increasing by £0.7m as profit per unit increased by 24.2% like-for-like. The like-for-like volume reduction was partly attributed to the reduction in unit sales from the Barnet JLR site during the disruptive building project, and partly attributable to reductions in unit sales from certain volume manufacturer partners. The achievement of annual new car volume related bonuses for the 2016 calendar year has had a positive impact on the profit per unit and therefore overall gross profit reported in the period.

The Group's sale of new vehicles to private individuals was 4.7% lower year-on-year at 4,604 units, showing the volume reduction that we anticipated. New commercial vehicle sales reduced by 28.45% to 342 units in the period. New fleet unit vehicle sales increased by 32.4% to 433 units.

The new vehicle registration data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders showed continued growth in registrations which were up 5.07% in the period.

The significant improvement in profit per unit on both a total and like-for-like basis was particularly pleasing in a very competitive new car market where each of the manufacturers are delivering compelling consumer offers and requiring increasing levels of sales from the dealers to meet their own registration requirements.

Used vehicle sales

We have delivered another good performance in used vehicle sales. Revenues increased by 12.4% to £137.2m (H1 2016: £122.1m) whilst the number of units sold decreased by 1.2% primarily as a result of the closure of Swindon Motor Park which was a high volume used car operation. The gross profit on used vehicles increased by 2.7% to £11.6m (H1 2016: £11.3m), with the profit per unit sold increasing by 3.5%. On a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of the acquisitions of Welwyn Garden City, Woodford and Birmingham and the closure of Swindon Motor Park, our used volumes increased 1.3% and profit per unit increased by 2.3%.

We have continued our focused strategy in the used car department to increase the efficiency with which we source, prepare and market our used vehicles in order to drive the velocity trading principles. This has produced strong results, increasing the number of units sold and the profitability of the used car department. During the period, this strategy continued to deliver a strong 12 month rolling return on used car investment* of 138%. This level was slightly reduced from the 148% achieved last year, but reflects the increase in the average carrying value of the stock resulting from the more premium vehicles that are sold through the newly acquired businesses.

* gross profit from used car operation over 12 months as a proportion of average stock levels for the year

Aftersales

Aftersales revenue increased by 9.9% year on year to £34.8m (H1 2016: £31.5m), and the related gross profit increased to £13.3m (H1 2016: £13.1m). The like-for-like aftersales revenue was 1.8% higher year on year, but with gross profit down £0.3m. The aftersales department contributed 36.8% of the Group's overall gross profit.

The fire that took place in October 2016 at the Group's Jaguar and Aston Martin aftersales workshop in Welwyn Garden City has had a significant impact on the profitability of that site, and whilst we have attempted to maintain a service level for our Guests by utilising the Welwyn Garden City Land Rover dealership, the constraint on both operations has been evident. The business interruption insurance claim has not been included within the trading figures for the half year, and will not be recognised until we have finalised the claim. The site redevelopment is now ongoing and we will be back in occupation of the workshop by mid-June 2017.

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

Following another record year with 2.69m new car registrations in 2016, the UK market has now seen five years of sustained year-on-year growth in new car registrations. We anticipated that with the weakening in the sterling exchange rate post the EU Referendum that there would be some downward pressure in the new car market in 2017. However, the March registration data showed 562,337 registrations in the month, the largest single month since the change to a bi-annual plate change in 1999. The March registrations were assisted by some pull forward of demand as a result of the changes to Vehicle Excise Duty from 1 April 2017. As a result, and as anticipated the April registrations were significantly down year-on-year.

The Group is excited to begin trading from the new JLR facility in Barnet and to realise the full potential of this territory. We continue to make positive steps in delivering the property strategy associated with the JLR and Aston Martin acquisitions and are confident that when delivered these will significantly enhance the operational performance of these businesses.

As outlined in the 2015/16 full year results and reiterated in the Group's pre-close trading update, the Board is still cautious on the consumer outlook for the 2017 calendar year and does not believe that the growth in new car registrations in the first half accurately reflects the level of retail consumer demand in the market.

Whilst the Board remains cautious, it is pleased that Cambria's performance in the combined months of March and April was in line with the previous year. We are therefore confident that the full year results will be slightly ahead of the current market expectations.

Mark Lavery

Chief Executive

9 May 2017

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

for the six months ended 28 February 2017

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

for the six months ended 28 February 2017

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

as at 28 February 2017

Consolidated Cash flow statement

for the six months ended 28 February 2017

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 2017 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 2017 have neither been audited nor reviewed by the auditors. The financial information for the year ended 31 August 2016 has been based on information in the audited financial statements for that period.

2 Accounting policies

The Group's principal activity is the sale and servicing of motor vehicles 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 2016 and can be found on our website:

 www.cambriaautomobilesplc.com.

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.

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.

The share options in issue are not dilutive because the performance conditions are not yet met. Details of the options in issue are contained within the Annual Report to 31 August 2015.

5 Acquisitions

Effect of Acquisitions in the period ended 29 February 2016

On 11 January 2016, the Group acquired the trade and assets of the Land Rover dealership in Welwyn Garden City from Jardine Motor Group for a total cash consideration of £10,821,585. Transactions fees of £30,531 have been expensed through operating expenses in the period.

6 Disposals of Branch

Effect of Disposals in the period ended 29 February 2016

On 13 January 2016, the Group disposed of the trade and assets of the Jaguar dealership in Exeter for a cash consideration of £1,327,794. Transactions fees and closure costs of £71,101 have been expensed against the £1,200,000 goodwill received to result in a non-recurring profit on disposal of £1,128,899 in the period.

7 Taxation

The tax charge for the six months ended 28 February 2017 has been provided at the effective rate of 20.87% (H1 2016: 20.44%).