HR Owen Bucks Trend With Strong Order Book

Prestige brand retailer HR Owen says it has a “strong order book”. They have recently reported strong results, including positive performance from its aftersales division.

The group’s results show rising earnings and it has also taken on more employees. Their labour force is up to 541 from 499 for the last year.

The retailer’s results to the end of April showed a profit rise before tax of £2.9 million. This is up from £1.6 m for the previous year, while revenue increased by 21.2% to £428.2m, compared to £353.6m for the previous year. It said the volumes of cars sold increased to 3,155 units, up from 2,351 units.

The group said service hours showed a 10% rise to 123,887 and bodyshop labour hours sold were ahead by 59%. The figures included a full year’s contribution from Body Technics operation, which acquired in December 2015. Parts sales were up 9% to £34.7m. HR Owen said it was focused on keeping aftersales’ customers loyal through high levels of service, to prevent them migrating to the independent sector.