Inchcape profits warning

Inchcape, the international distribution company, has repeated warnings that its first-half profits are likely to be lower than last year, but says it hopes for some improvement over the full year. Shares in the company shot up 16 pence to 288p as analysts took comfort from the fact that the group appeared to be on the right track after two years of depressed profits. Chairman Sir Colin Marshall told the group's annual general meeting in London yesterday that its key Hong Kong passenger car market was still sharply down for the first four months of this year. The group, which owns Crown Motors, said the market in the territory was down 29 per cent.