Shares in Swindon-based car dealer group Cambria Automobiles raced ahead by more than 9% after it said it expects its half-year profits to have increased “significantly”.
The group, which owns 28 dealerships, representing 45 franchises and 18 brands, including Swindon Motor Park, also said in a trading update ahead last week's annual meeting that it viewed “the outlook for the remainder of the financial year with confidence”.
Cambria made pre-tax profits of £5.3m on sales up 14% at £450.1m in the year to August 31. 
Last week it said all aspects of the business continued to show strong profit improvement on both a total and a like-for-like basis, which strips out new dealerships.
Vehicles sales in the first four months of the current financial year increased by 19.3% and by 11.9% on a like-for-like basis, well ahead of the UK new car market which grew by 8.2% in the same period.
Used vehicle sales also continued to perform well, with sales 1.8% ahead of the same period last year (flat on a like-for-like basis), with the gross profit per unit continuing to increase.
The growth in the group’s aftersales operations continued, with profitability up 10.7% year-on-year and up 3% on a like-for-like basis.
Cambria shares climbed by 9.28% – or 4.5p – at 53p in early trading on the day the statement was released to the London Stock Exchange before falling back slightly.
