Britain’s motor dealers are expected to report record annual profits in the coming reporting season, but are refusing to return the hundreds of millions of pounds in taxpayer handouts that were awarded to them during the Coronavirus pandemic, according to an investigation by the Times.
The new and used car dealers will together post full-year profits of up to £1bn, but unlike many of the country’s retailers they have elected not to repaid any financial help given to them by the government in 2020.
Pendragon Group (LSE:PDG) PLC, Lookers Motor Group Ltd and Vertu Motors (AIM:VTU) will report record profits for 2021, together totalling £230mln, and have all signalled that they will be paying final dividends. Together the three companies laid off 3,650 staff during the pandemic despite receiving furlough money and business rate support totalling £137mln.
Increasing margins from soaring new and second-hand car prices and staff cost-cutting will lift almost all large motor retailers to best-ever profits in 2021, with some exceeding previous records by a wide margin, the investigation revealed.
Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, previously criticised the government for not making it a condition that companies return taxpayer money before handing out dividends and bonuses.