Lookers plays a part

Aug 19 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

CAR dealership Lookers posted record half-year figures – after a surge in demand for spare parts lifted profits by 29%.

The Manchester-based company said its parts distribution division increased earnings by 21% to £5.2m as motorists focused on keeping their vehicles on the road in the current economic climate.

Group profits rose to £22.7m from £17.6m last year as turnover increased by 13% to £988.3m in the six months to June 30.

Lookers said the record trading performance came against a background of difficult trading conditions and the end of the Government’s scrappage scheme – which propped up the car market during the worst of the recession.

The company’s motor division lifted profits to £18.5m from £15.3m in 2009.