Pendragon profit forecasts have been cut by a fifth after May registrations fell by 9.5 per cent.

Industry analysts Citigroup and Arden Partners slashed 2008 and 2009 estimates for UK dealerships following the registration data.

Pendragon was off 8.9 per cent to 26p, while Inchcape lost 8.6 per cent to 349p. Lookers was down 71.5 per cent, reported the Financial Times.

The downshift does not reflect Pendragon’s prediction last month that annual earnings would be at the upper end of expectations after a promising start to the year.