Lookers - Looking to the future

Along with its peers, in H118 Lookers continued to be challenged by market conditions, which returned to a more normal sequential development but meant that Q1 profitability was lower than in the prior year. With new and used car markets now appearing to have stabilised, management appears confident that the impact of the new vehicle testing regime is likely to be neutral across H218. With a continued focus on operating cost control, H2 profitability should recover strongly to provide a more normal H1:H2 seasonal split than was seen in 2017. As a result, we maintain our PBT and EPS forecasts.