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Motorpoint's margin on each used car hit a record £1,266
Motorpoint's half-year profit rose 80.6% to £6.5m on record volumes, with a £1,266 metal margin per car and a target of 120,000 used sales a year.
Motorpoint made a record £1,266 of metal margin on each used car it sold in the six months to 30 September, as profit before tax rose 80.6% to £6.5m on a record first-half retail volume of 35,430 cars (interim results, 11 November). Metal margin is the gap between the price it paid for a car and the price it sold it for, before finance commission and extras. The used-car supermarket has set a target of 120,000 retail sales a year.
That is 86% more than the 64,600 cars it sold at retail in the year to March 2026 (annual report, 24 June). The company has 21 stores today and puts the target at 30 to 35 large-format sites (store locator).
The margin grew faster than the volume
Revenue rose 6.0% to £686.7m and gross profit rose 11.9% to £55.4m, so the margin widened while volume grew. Gross margin was 8.3% against 7.7% a year earlier. Retail gross profit per unit, which adds finance commission and extras to the metal margin, rose £82 to £1,431.
| Half year to 30 September | 2026 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £686.7m | £647.7m | +6.0% |
| Gross profit | £55.4m | £49.5m | +11.9% |
| Profit before tax | £6.5m | £3.6m | +80.6% |
| EBITDA | £16.3m | £13.6m | +19.9% |
| Retail units | 35,430 | 32,940 | +7.6% |
| Metal margin per unit | £1,266 | £1,063 | +19.1% |
Motorpoint credits dynamic pricing models, part of the operating platform it calls MotoAI, for buying and pricing stock to sell at a higher rate. Gross profit covered operating costs 1.27 times, against 1.21 times a year earlier, and operating costs rose 6.6% to £43.7m. EBITDA rose 19.9% to £16.3m, return on capital employed rose to 81.0% from 58.8% and the interim dividend doubled to 2.0p a share, about £1.6m in total.
Total vehicle sales, including 15,840 wholesale cars sold through Auction4Cars.com, were 51,270, up 8.2%. The average retail selling price was £16.4k, unchanged on the period.
Cars sat on the forecourt for 54 days
Days in stock rose to 54 from 49 a year earlier, and matched the 54 days at the March year end. Motorpoint says it bought more stock to support the Leeds opening and to prepare for the fourth quarter. Inventory was £204.5m at 30 September against £194.1m at the year end, and £149.7m of a £170m stocking facility was drawn.
The company is also buying more cars directly from owners. Its Sell Your Car platform bought 5,800 vehicles in the half, against 2,600 a year earlier, which gives it stock without bidding against other traders at auction.
Half a percent of market growth
The used car market grew 0.5% in the third quarter to 2,030,619 transactions, the best third quarter since 2021 (SMMT, 9 November). Motorpoint's retail volume grew 7.6% over a half-year that includes that quarter, and it reported 9.7% growth in October, the first month of the second half.
Motorpoint measures its share against cars aged up to six years, a market it puts at about 2.4 million sales a year. Its share rose to 2.50% from 2.46%. That market is forecast to reach 2.9 million cars in five years. On the company's own estimate of 2.4 million, 120,000 sales would be one car in 20, double the share it reports now.
Finance at 10.9% while Bank Rate is 4%
Motorpoint cut the APR on its own finance from 12.9% to 10.9% in the half, a move it says was made to help customers with affordability. Finance commission per car fell 16.2% to £573, while the share of buyers taking finance rose to 47% from 42%. Extras per car rose 4.7% to £292.
The direction is unusual. Bank Rate rose to 4% on 5 November, the first increase since 2023 (Bank of England, 5 November), and lenders' funding costs usually follow. A retailer cutting its headline rate in that market is buying volume with margin, and its metal margin gave it room. Our report on the rate rise explains why car finance reprices more slowly than mortgages.
Why 35 stores works at a 2.5% share
Motorpoint says a mature store sells about 4,000 cars a year, contributes about £3.0m of profit before tax and repays its fit-out within two and a half years. Thirty stores at that rate would produce 120,000 sales. That is the bottom of its store range, and the whole of its volume target. Leeds, which opened in July, is trading ahead of plan. The company closed its smaller Ipswich site after the period and is expanding Norwich (AM Online, 11 November).
Growth has a balance sheet cost. Net debt rose to £14.3m from £0.5m a year earlier, although it was £8.8m at the March year end.
Full-year guidance is unchanged at £9.8m to £10.8m of underlying profit before tax, the range set in October (trading update, 9 October). With £6.5m made in the first half, that implies £3.3m to £4.3m in the second, a slower six months than the first. The first half alone came within £1m of the £7.5m profit Motorpoint made in the whole of the previous financial year.
What it means for a buyer
More stores mean more cars within reach and more competition in the £10,000 to £20,000 bracket where Motorpoint's average price sits. The metal margin is the other side of that trade: the average car carried £203 more gross profit than a year earlier, which is money a buyer can try to argue against.
The auction market shows where trade values sit. Cars sold at BCA in October fetched 2.5% further below the published guide price than in September, and the average fell to £7,244 (our report). A supermarket buys in that market and sells at retail, and the gap between the two is its margin.
Days in stock of 54 against 49 a year earlier means a fuller forecourt than a year ago. A buyer shopping late in the year is looking at a site carrying more stock than it did in 2025.
The finance rate is worth comparing. 10.9% is a representative APR, so the rate offered varies with the car and the terms, and a bank loan may come in lower.
Most of the market Motorpoint sells into is still petrol and diesel. Electric cars were 4.8% of used sales in the third quarter (our report), against 32.0% of new car registrations in October.
Sources
- Motorpoint Group, "Interim Results", RNS 6195C, 11 November 2026, London Stock Exchange
- Motorpoint Group, "Half Year Trading Update and Notice of Results", 9 October 2026, Investegate
- Motorpoint Group, "Annual Report and Accounts 2026", 24 June 2026, Motorpoint
- Motorpoint, "Our Stores", accessed 11 November 2026, Motorpoint
- SMMT, "Used car market records second quarter of growth with one in 20 drivers going electric", 9 November 2026, SMMT
- AM Online, "Motorpoint sets out expansion plans in push for 120,000 annual sales", 11 November 2026, AM Online
- Bank of England, "Monetary Policy Summary and minutes", 5 November 2026, Bank of England