Redde Northgate, the mobility and automotive services group that includes Bath-based specialist vehicle accident management firm Redde, is on track for better-than-expected annual profits despite the impact of the pandemic on the business.
The group, formed from the 2020 merger of Redde and light commercial vehicle hire business Northgate, this week said it was continuing to perform well with trading ahead of expectations driven by a strong performance across the business.
As a result, its directors now expects underlying pre-tax profits for the year to 30 April to be in the region of £150m – a figure they said was “comfortably ahead of [the] consensus of £133.9m”.
Redde, formerly known as Helphire and an innovator in accident management, had previously been hit by lower business level as Covid-linked lockdowns kept drivers off the roads, leading to fewer crashes.
While Redde had been on the road to recovery, in its update to shareholders this week the group said this had been hindered in December and January by the Omicron and work-from-home restrictions.
However, there had been an improvement since the beginning of February and volumes were now running at around 90% of pre-Covid levels, it added.
The group had continued to “de-fleet” a lower number of vehicles due to rental demand, it said, as supply constraints for new vehicles meant values in the used-vehicle market had stayed strong.
These supply issues were expected to continue throughout its 2023 financial year, it said.
The group has an extensive network and diversified fleet of more than 110,000 owned vehicles and 400,000-plus managed vehicles in more than 100 branches across the UK, Ireland and Spain.
Its services span the vehicle life cycle across vehicle supply, service, maintenance, repair, recovery, accident and incident management and disposal through sale or salvage.
