Inchcape's luxury cars fuel growth

Strong Subaru sales have beefed up Inchcape's bottom line

Car dealer Inchcape has cheered the market with news that it will beat profit expectations this year thanks to strong sales of luxury cars in the UK and Asia.

Inchcape, based in London, is one of the biggest dealers of Ferrari, Jaguar and Toyota. It also has partnerships with manufacturers such as Subaru, BMW, Lexus and Audi.

The group said trading for the year had been slightly ahead of forecasts and that it was confident of further growth in 2003.

"Despite the economic weakness in some of our markets, Inchcape's geographic spread and breadth of business activities have again proved to be important factors," said Inchcape.

Investor confidence

Inchcape's core selling markets are the UK, Greece, Belgium, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The company said its Australian business had benefited from its Subaru dealership, while strong sales of Toyota cars helped lift profits in Singapore.

Inchcape shares closed up 11% at 669p.

Analysts had been forecasting full year profits of £106.2m F($167.8m), but the car dealer said it would now produce a figure "slightly ahead of the top end of current market expectations".

Inchcape said it was also talking to manufacturers regarding new European Union rules to open up the car market, allowing manufacturers to stock different brands.

"We are in ongoing discussions with our core partners, and are confident that they will result in a positive outcome for the group," said Inchcape.