Lookers moving up a gear as dividend set to return

The company said 2010 had started ahead of plan and it would return to paying a dividend later this year.

The firm, which sells cars from manufacturers like Ford, Nissan and Vauxhall from more than 120 outlets, said market conditions would remain tough, with the Government due to end an incentive scheme for buying new cars later this month.

However, after cutting costs and seeing strong performance in its car parts and used-car businesses, it was confident of coping.

"The new year has started well with current trading being ahead of both our budget and the prior year," it said. Lookers chief executive Peter Jones said: "We are pleased to announce that we have delivered a record trading performance for the company in 2009 despite difficult market conditions."

Profit before tax, goodwill and one-off items jumped 102 per cent to 28.3m in 2009 on a 4.2 per cent rise in like-for-like revenues to 1.75bn.

This figure was just ahead of analysts' average profit forecast of

28m. Lookers raised around 80m in a share sale last year to cut its debts.

Rival Pendragon last month reported a return to profit in 2009 after a loss the year before.

Another competitor, Inchcape, is due to publish its 2009 results today.

In 2008, one of the best known names in Yorkshire car sales, Tony Bramall, agreed to sell part of his motor retail business to Lookers.

Lookers bought Bramall and Jones VW for around 2m.

Mr Bramall, 73, trained as an accountant in his home town of Sheffield before going to run his father's motor business in Bradford in the early 1960s, building it up before floating it on the stock market in 1978 and then selling it to Avis in 1987 for 97m.

Three years later he began again, building Harrogate-based CD Bramall – which also floated – from scratch and turning it into one of the market leaders.

In February 2004, CD Bramall, the UK's fourth-largest motor retailer, was bought by Nottingham-based Pendragon.

Mr Bramall, winner of the Yorkshire Post's Business Executive of the Year in 2001, made around 78m from the sale.

He became a director of Lookers in 2006.