Arnold Clark, the car dealership behemoth, has seen its sales inch towards the £5bn threshold, although a cyber attack aftermath and escalating costs have significantly dented its profit.
The Glasgow-based group disclosed a revenue of £4.96bn for 2023 in recently submitted accounts to Companies House, as reported by .
This figure is a slight increase from the £4.92bn revenue reported in 2022. However, the company's pre-tax profit took a hit, dropping from £173.5m to £116m.
New vehicle sales dipped by five per cent to 55,820 over the year, but an average hike in new car prices mitigated the negative impact on the group's revenue. Used car sales also saw a three per cent decline to 187,735, which Arnold Clark attributed to a combination of factors: the fallout from a cyber attack, a shortage of vehicles up to three years old, and dwindling demand towards the end of 2023 as the rising cost of living began to affect customers.
Despite this, the firm managed to generate a revenue of £3.4bn from used car sales, a slight increase from £3.3bn, while new vehicle sales remained largely unchanged at £1bn. The group's vehicle leasing and rental business also performed well, posting a revenue of £537m for the year, marking a 23 per cent increase.
However, the division's pre-tax profit saw a decline of 39% to £40m, primarily due to "significantly higher borrowing costs" resulting from the Bank of England's base rate hikes and increased depreciation reflecting the decreased value of its electric vehicle fleet.
Arnold Clark reported a £21m rise in operating expenses, largely attributed to inflationary pressures and the decision to bring forward its annual pay review by three months.
A statement from the board noted: "The year... saw the group face several significant challenges, staring with the impact of a cyber attack, which the group was victim to in late December 2022, combined with ongoing vehicle supply constraints, the impact of inflation on consumer demand and the effect of higher interest rates."
Throughout the year, Arnold Clark's average employee count increased from 11,400 to 11,694.
