UK car dealer boosted by Vardy deal

British car retailer Pendragon said today it was benefiting from its £500m (€747.9m) deal for Reg Vardy after it emerged profits jumped 51% last year.

Pendragon, which operates through the brands Evans Halshaw and Stratstone, posted a surplus of £96.4m (€144.2m) after revenues rose by almost £2bn (€2.99bn) to £5.1bn (€7.6bn) following the Vardy purchase last year.

The company said the new car market had weakened by 5.25% over the past four years but that it had offset the decline through its exposure to the used car market, which has continued to perform well.