PENDRAGON PLC Trading Update   

(ISSUED 30 July 2021)

Pendragon PLC (the "Group") today provides a trading update and increases underlying profit before tax guidance for the full year to 31 December 2021 to a range of approximately £55m to £60m.

A strong close to June, combined with continued momentum in the used car market throughout July, with industry wide supply constraints leading to exceptional gross profits per unit together with good levels of demand driving further outperformance against the Board's expectations.  The Group was able to maximise its used car performance during July by maintaining good levels of used car stock availability in a constrained market demonstrating the benefits of its broad range of vehicle sourcing channels.

As at 30 June, the Group had a net cash balance of £9.5m (HY20: net debt of £46.0m), with the reduction in net debt supported by strong trading in the first-half and a continued focus on cash management.

As outlined in the Group's previous update on 30 June, there continues to be uncertainty resulting from potential further disruption from Covid-19, the timing of an expected realignment of used vehicle margins and supply constraints in both new and used vehicles.   As a result, there remains a range of possible outcomes for the full year.  Following the strong performance outlined above, Group underlying profit before tax for FY21 is now expected to be in a range of approximately £55m to £60m (FY20: £8.2m).  The Board continues to believe the Group's strategy positions it well to respond to the ongoing market uncertainty and to capitalise on any resultant opportunities.