Lookers has applied to recommence share trading on the London Stock Exchange following publication of interim financial results which revealed a £50 million loss in a COVID-impacted H1, 2020.
Lookers has filled the chief financial officer role left vacant since February last year with Anna Bielby, formerly of PwC and CFO of telecoms company KCOM Group.
Lookers has said that it will continue to “review the appropriateness of the remuneration policy” following a shareholders’ revolt over the £450,000 pay packet of chief executive Mark Raban.
Lookers has appointed Yorkshire Building Society chief financial officer Robin Churchouse as an independent non-executive director and chair of its Audit and Risk Committee, Remuneration and Nomination Committees.
Lookers has finally been able to publish its 2019 financial results which show a £87.4 million swing into pre-tax losses caused partly by past financial overstatements.
Business leaders from AM100 franchised car retailers Sytner, Lookers, TrustFord have joined the NFDA in lobbying Northern Ireland MPs on a Brexit tax issue which could result in a 20% price hike for used cars.
Lookers has said that the launch of a recruitment drive to take on largest-ever intake of apprentices in 2021 is a sign of its “confidence and ambition for the future”.
Citygate Automotive has completed the acquisition of Lookers’ West London Škoda dealership for an undisclosed sum.
Lookers has reported that trading in Q3 resulted in underlying PBT “significantly ahead of last year” to largely offset losses recorded in a COVID-19 impacted first half of 2020.
Lookers has officially re-opened the doors to its Renault dealership in Stockport – 12 months after a blaze that devastated the site.
Lookers' aim to present its 2019 financial results in August has been derailed by financial investigations, while lockdown lost it £1 billion sales in H1.
Pentagon Motor Group and Charles Hurst Group are both moving Vauxhall dealerships as they look to maximise their use of space to accommodate the PSA Group-owned car brand.
Lookers has requested that the listing of its ordinary shares be temporarily suspended, pending publication of its 2019 annual financial results.
The investigation into fraud at Lookers has exposed a £19 million ‘black hole’ resulting from overstated supplier bonuses, fraudulent expenses claims and the inconsistent application of policies, processes and accounting standards.
Lookers is preparing to shake-up its board of directors in the search for ‘new skills and experience’ to guide the AM100 car retail group through the next phase of its development.
Lookers expects to be hit by a temporary suspension of shares trading after conceding that its 2019 annual financial results will not be published in time for the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) June 30 deadline.
Lookers will close a further 12 car dealerships and cut its employee headcount by up to 1,500 as part of a restructure plan aiming to make annual savings of £50 million.
Pendragon has claimed that it is “well-positioned” despite the end of merger talks with fellow AM100 car retail group Lookers which would have created the UK’s largest car retail group.
It is interesting to see further details announced today around the ongoing financial investigation at Lookers.
Lookers will expand its internal fraud investigations to its entire business after initial findings from one of its operating divisions resulted in an expected one-off charge of over £4 million in its 2019 financial results.