Jardine International Motor Holdings (JIMH), the Hong Kong-listed car-marketing arm of the Jardine group, yesterday revealed a 41.46 per cent slide in attributable profit, with a warning that operating environments were 'likely to remain difficult' this year.
JIMH - whose business includes the Zung Fu Mercedes-Benz car dealership in Hong Kong - said net profit declined to US$36.7 million for the year to December 31, down from $62.7 million.
It said the group's performance this year 'should be in line with last year'.
The company reported a fall in pretax profit to $49.5 million, down from $80.6 million a year earlier.
As a result, JIMH will slash its shareholder pay-out by 20 per cent to six cents per share, from 7.5 cents last year.
JIMH said it sold 32 per cent more cars last year than the year before, mainly as a result of its $89 million acquisition of the Appleyard Group in Britain in 1997, which includes a 48-strong dealership representing 23 marques.
JIMH in January launched a joint GBP30 million bid (about HK$375.41 million) with Ford Motor to acquire Dagenham Motors, the largest Ford dealership network in Britain.
