AGM Statement

Pendragon PLC 15 April 2003 15 April 2003 AGM STATEMENT At today's Annual General Meeting of Pendragon PLC, the Chairman, Sir Nigel Rudd, made the following statement: ' In 2002 Pendragon achieved annual results well ahead of the previous year partly due to record new car registrations in the UK and a buoyant car market in the USA. Pendragon has made a positive start to 2003 with operating profits for the first quarter ahead of last year. We expect new car registrations in our principal market, the UK, to be lower in 2003. First quarter registrations were down 1.4% compared to the same period in 2002. Despite this we have been able to increase our UK profits. We have seen a temporary slowdown in demand for new cars in the USA, caused by uncertainty over the conflict in Iraq. This has had an adverse impact on sales volumes in the short term. However, we see significant growth opportunities for us in that market. Since publication of our preliminary results in February, we have acquired two further Land Rover dealerships in California. Our German businesses have shown a marginal improvement in profitability so far this year. We have also continued with our policy of share buybacks. Since our preliminary results we have bought back and cancelled 2.2 million shares at a cost of £6.4 million. This represents 3.9% of the issued share capital and will further enhance earnings per share. Overall our results for the first quarter are ahead of our expectations and last year. This is in part due to the increasing influence the UK March new car market has in making the first half of the year a greater contributor to full year results. The results of the group so far this year make us confident that Pendragon will have another successful year of trading.' Enquiries: Trevor Finn, Chief Executive Pendragon PLC 01623 725 000 David Forsyth, Finance Director Charlotte Hepburne-Scott Finsbury Group 020 7251 3801 Gordon Simpson This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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