Car dealer Inchcape takes £750 million hit on Russia exit
Car dealership Inchcape will take a £750 million hit as it quits Russia, the British company said today.
The business, which sells premium new and used vehicles from brands including BMW, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and Lexus, is in the process of transferring its Russian business to another operator and today promised to safeguard jobs in the region.
“In light of the current circumstances, we have concluded that the group’s ownership of its business interests in Russia is no longer tenable,” it said.
The company gave no further details about how long it expects the process to take but said it was working with its partner car brands to come to a deal.
Inchcape Russia operates from Moscow and accounts for around 10% of group sales, or around £750 million in 2021.
Over the last five years, Russia has generated around 5% of the company’s operating profits.
Shares sank 17p, or 2.4%, to 685.5p on news of the exit, valuing Inchcape at £2.7 billion.
It previously sold cars in St Petersburg, but sold that part of the business to KlyuchAvto, a local operator, for around £70 million in April 2021.
Inchcape said it was assisting in efforts to help transport refugees from Ukrainian borders to safe havens and had made a donation to the UN Refugee Agency.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, tobacco giant Imperial Brands said it was trying to transfer its Russian business to a new local operator as part of plans to save 1,000 jobs in the country.
