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Inchcape Inchcape plc , the global automotive distributor , announces its half year results for the six months to 30 June 2021 Strong first half performance ; encouraging strategic progress First half highlights : • Group revenue of £ 3.9bn : up 37 % on an organic basis and 30 % reported ; underlying 3 % below 2019 levels • Pre - exceptional PBT of £ 143m ( 1H20 : £ 9m ) , supported by gross margin resilience and overhead savings • Statutory profit before tax of £ 61m , largely reflects the loss on disposal of part of our Retail operations in Russia • 1H21 free cash flow of £ 184m further strengthening our financial position : net cash of £ 435m ( Dec - 20 : £ 266m ) • Launch of £ 100m share buyback programme and declaration of 6.4p ( £ 25m ) interim dividend • Distribution footprint expanded with three new contract awards - including a new OEM relationship ( Geely ) 1H21 1H20 % change constant FX¹ % change organic² % change reported Key financials Revenue £ 3,926m £ 3,019m Operating profit ( pre exceptionals ) 1 £ 159m £ 28m + 30 % + 468 % + 34 % + 576 % + 37 % Operating margin¹ 4.1 % 0.9 % + 320bps + 320bps Profit before tax ( pre exceptionals ) 1 £ 143m £ 9m nmf Basic EPS ( pre exceptionals ) 1 26.7p ( 0.6 ) p nmf Dividend per share 6.4p nmf Free cash flow 1 ₤ 184m ₤ ( 5 ) m nmf Statutory financials Operating profit / ( loss ) Profit / ( loss ) before tax Basic EPS 1. These measures are Alternative Performance Measures , see note 16 . £ 78m £ ( 169 ) m £ 61m 6.1p £ ( 188 ) m ( 48.2 ) p 2. Organic growth is defined as sales growth in operations that have been open for at least a year at constant foreign exchange rates Duncan Tait , Group CEO , commented : " The Group delivered a strong set of results in the first half reflecting a good performance across all regions , higher margins and the ongoing benefit of our overhead reduction programme . The Group's inherently cash - generative business model saw a further strengthening of our overall financial position , and we are today launching a new £ 100m share buyback programme . At the height of the global pandemic our efforts were focused on protecting our people , collaborating with our partners and ensuring the resilience of the business , and we accordingly prioritised and successfully completed a major cost restructuring programme . We have since been able to turn our attention back to capturing growth opportunities across our markets and I am delighted to report that we expanded our distribution footprint in two new markets in Asia and Americas . We also signed a global strategic partnership with Geely , a new OEM relationship for the Group . We are excited about the number of distribution opportunities across both existing and new markets , whether via acquisition or contract wins , and with both current and new OEM partners . We have made encouraging progress in realising our strategic priorities , with our central focus on Distribution Excellence . Of particular note is the greater and accelerated use of data and digital . This is evident in the roll - out of our omni - channel capability and the launch of our Digital Delivery Centres . In addition , we are making progress with the opportunities identified to capture more of a vehicle's lifetime value , where we believe there is significant untapped potential , and look forward to sharing more detail on our strategy and future growth prospects at our Capital Markets Day in November . - Looking ahead , whilst there continues to be a high level of uncertainty , both in terms of the pandemic and widely reported issues relating to supply , we expect that the strong first half performance – which in part reflected pent - up demand - will underpin our full year results and expect to deliver FY21 profit before tax of at least £ 260m . Our ambition is to become the undisputed distributor of choice for OEMs . We will achieve this by further strengthening our OEM relationships and with more emphasis on capturing the lifetime value of both customers and vehicles . " 1