AGM Trading Statement

Inchcape PLC 12 May 2005 12 May 2005 Inchcape AGM Trading Statement In his statement to shareholders at today's Annual General Meeting (AGM), Sir John Egan, Chairman of Inchcape plc, will make the following comments about current trading: 'As expected the UK car market is forecast to be slightly lower than 2004. Despite this, UK Retail has enjoyed a positive start to the year. It is expected that this will continue. In addition the recently announced acquisition of six Mercedes-Benz dealerships will also benefit the UK. 'In Greece and Belgium our market share in the year to date has been lower than anticipated. However, better product availability and a slightly broader product range should help our performance in both markets in the second half of the year. 'In Australia market conditions remain strong and our performance is ahead of previous expectations. 'In Hong Kong we anticipate profitability will be in line with our expectations at the start of the year. 'The Government of Singapore has issued the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) quota for the year to March 2006, and the resultant car market for 2005 is now expected to be higher than 2004. This is better than we had previously expected and will impact positively on profitability. 'We have commenced the earnings enhancing £65.0m share buy back programme, previously announced in our preliminary results statement on 28 February 2005. As at close of business on 11 May 2005, £14.6m has been returned to shareholders through the purchase of c. 764,000 shares at an average price of 1910p per share. 'Inchcape continues to benefit from its broad geographic spread and strong operational performance. The overall trading conditions seen to date leave us confident that 2005 will show further progress for Inchcape, and we are well placed to continue with our record of profit growth and strong cash generation.' In a separate announcement today, Inchcape has presented its unaudited full year results, for the year ended 31 December 2004, under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which shows that the effect on profit before tax and earnings is broadly neutral subject to the achievement of hedge effectiveness under IAS 39. Notes to editors You can view the IFRS announcement by visiting our website www.inchcape.com. The accompanying AGM slides and speeches will be available online, under 'Presentations', from approximately 1200hrs today on our website. The results of the AGM resolutions will also be available today, under 'News Desk', from 1600hrs. For further information, please contact: Group Communications, Inchcape plc 020 7546 0022 Hogarth Partnership Limited (John Olsen/Barnaby Fry) 020 7357 9477 Inchcape, an international automotive services group, provides quality representation for its manufacturer partners, a choice of channels to market and products for its retail customers and a range of business services for its corporate customers. Operations are focused on the UK, Greece, Belgium, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Inchcape's activities include exclusive Import, Distribution and Retail, Business Services, automotive E-commerce and Financial Services. Our key manufacturer partners are Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, BMW, the Premier Automotive Group of Ford, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. For further information, visit us at www.inchcape.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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