Just Car Clinics reports dip in profits

The independent collision repair chain, which has 25 vehicle repair centres, said that turnover increased to 42.9m in 2009, compared to 42.6m the year before.

Profit before taxation, excluding initial losses of businesses acquired, was 1.22m, a "marginal decrease" of 80,000 on 2008.

The number of trading operations increased by two with new sites in Stourbridge and Redditch.

The Goole-based company said the volume of repairs had been affected by reduced road usage and the reluctance of retail customers to incur large excess payments.

The group responded to these challenges by adding business from the fleet and local business sectors.

It has also extended its services to include mobile light cosmetic repairs, tyre fitting and mechanical servicing at some locations.

The total dividend for 2009 was up 2 per cent to 1.63p per share

Barry Whittles, the chief executive of Just Car Clinics, said: "2009 was a very difficult year for the UK economy and the accident repair sector was not entirely unaffected.

"I believe that Just Car Clinics demonstrated the underlying resilience of the industry and a proactive response to the market conditions and in these circumstances I was pleased with the financial results achieved.

"Much has been achieved in the last twelve months, with the continued expansion of our network and broader retail offering, further improvements in customer service and the award of BSI Kitemark accreditation at all our locations, except for the recent acquisitions. I believe that we are in a good position to meet the challenges of 2010 and make further progress this year."