Sparks

Pinewood reported results for the 11 months ended 31  December 2024 (FY24), having raised PBT expectations for FY24 in its February trading update. Compared to the corresponding 11 month period in 2023, revenue increased 15.1% to £31.2m, underlying PBT was flat at £8.5m, and underlying EBITDA increased 6.9% to £14.0m (underlying EBITDA margin 44.9% vs 48.3% a year ago). The company closed the year with net cash of £9.3m, bolstered by a payment of £9.9m from Lithia in March. In February, the company raised gross proceeds of £35.6m from the issue of 11.3m shares at 315p per share, most of which has been used to fund the acquisition of Seez. The Lithia US expansion plan is on track, with pilot sites expected to be rolled out in H225 and wider rollout expected in FY26.

Management expects underlying PBT for FY25 to be in line with consensus (£11.0m) and  raises FY27 underlying EBITDA guidance from £30m to mid to high £30 millions (consensus not available but FY26 is at £28.8m). New contracts with Marshalls Motor Group (Oct 2024) and Global Auto Holdings (Feb 2025) in the UK combined with US expansion plans provide support for strong growth forecasts, with the stock currently trading on 36.0x FY25e EPS and 20.7x FY26.