Interim Results

Lookers PLC
5 September 2000


LOOKERS PLC

INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE HALF-YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE 2000

Highlights


*    Turnover - increased by 6%

*    Profit before taxation - up 11%

*    EPS up 12.8% to 8.8p

*    Mainland new car sales - up 25% compared with a national
     market increase of 2.1%

*    Mainland service and fast fit profit - up 20%

*    Continued strong performance by Charles Hurst in Northern
     Ireland

*    Further development and growth of Internet and E-commerce
     activity

*    Repeated success with training awards

*    Expansion programme of 18 further outlets at a time when
     good value could be achieved.

*    New car pricing order will bring stability to the market
     place - lower car prices will stimulate sales


Enquiries

Lookers plc              Fred Maguire   Chief Executive
Tel No:                  0161 291 0043/Mobile [phone]
Lookers plc              Alan Marston   Financial Director
Tel No:                  0161 291 0043/Mobile  [phone]



LOOKERS PLC INTERIM REPORT 2000

CHAIRMAN'S REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

This is the first announcement of results for a half-year
period following the change of year end last December.
Comparative figures for the identical trading period last year
have been provided as this is a Stock Exchange listing
requirement - even though these results have not been
announced previously.


RESULTS

The profit before taxation for the half-year ended 30th June
2000 amounted to £5.0M compared with £4.5M in the same period
last year. Turnover has increased by 6% facilitating an
increase in operating profit which together with reduced
interest charges has resulted in an 11% increase in the profit
before taxation.

Having regard to the on-going investment programme covering
both property refurbishments and new dealerships the Board
recommends that the interim dividend of 2.6p is maintained at
the same level.


CAR MARKETS

The UK new car market was 2.1% ahead of last year for the
first six months.  By comparison our own new sales have shown
an increase of 8% with retail sales remaining at an almost
identical level to last year.  This is particularly pleasing
as there have been widespread reports in the press regarding
the shortage of retail customers coming into car showrooms.

We welcome the publication of the Supply of New Cars Order
2000 which we hope will remove the issue of new car pricing
and have the effect of restoring stability and confidence to
the market place.  The introduction of the 'X' registration
plate in September will stimulate demand and volumes will
benefit from the release of any pent-up demand in the system.
Our initial sales and outstanding order banks for September
delivery are running slightly ahead of last year and appear to
be gathering pace.

The used car market has been difficult mainly through falling
valuations and retail volumes have declined by 3% during the
half-year when compared with 1999.

TRADING PERFORMANCE

Mainland UK

Despite the uncertainty over the new car pricing issue, our
mainland motor dealerships achieved 25% growth in new car
sales volume which included a 12% increase in retail sales. As
the major rebuilding programme is nearing completion we have
benefited from being able to operate from first class retail
premises with much less disruption to our business.  A
combination of the strong sales growth and tight control of
stock has resulted in a very significant profit increase over
the same period last year.  A major turnaround in the results
was achieved by our Rover outlets where significant losses
sustained last year were replaced by a small profit overall.
This is particularly commendable in view of the uncertainty
caused by the sale of Rover to the Phoenix Consortium by BMW.
A very good performance was also recorded by the Group's
specialist franchises of Land Rover, Mercedes and Audi.

Our centralised telephone call centre has been developed
further and continues to generate many bookings for our
aftersales activities.  Our car service and fast fit
operations have shown an improvement in operating profit of
some 20% when compared with last year.

Trading conditions in the farming sector continue to be
difficult and this had a knock-on effect on our agricultural
machinery division.  Overall there was an increase in losses
compared with the same period last year with the results being
hampered by product supply difficulties.  Wherever possible we
are continuing to cut costs in the business and to keep our
stock levels under very strict control.

Northern Ireland

Charles Hurst operated at slightly lower volumes yet
maintained profits at a similar level to last year and once
again recorded an excellent performance.  The entire portfolio
of franchised outlets contributed to the result achieved.
This result is particularly significant when considering the
on-going disruption to the market place caused by imported
vehicles from Southern Ireland.


INTERNET AND E-COMMERCE

We have a dedicated team controlling the development of our e-
commerce and internet business and have recently launched our
redesigned website which simplifies the buying process and
should appeal to a much wider customer base.  The site
includes colour photographs and full sales descriptions of
used vehicles and will offer net-only offers on a selection of
new vehicles.  All leads will be promptly dealt with by our
dedicated, and newly formed, centralised internet sales team.
We already have an established presence on manufacturer
websites and have initiated links to other third party
websites to enable all sales opportunities to be fully
exploited.  We have invested in new technology to service all
of these websites from a single source, whilst enabling a
Group intranet and sophisticated car locator system to be
utilised.  The facility for direct service bookings and parts
ordering is working well as is our specialist service to fleet
customers enabling them to source vehicles to their required
specification, and order on-line.

We will continue to make controlled investments so that the
Group is able to grow significantly this aspect of our
business.


TRAINING

Training and staff development continues to be a top priority
and I am delighted that we have repeated the success achieved
last year.  In 1999 the Group gained recognition from the
motor industry publication Automotive Management with 2 gold
awards.  In the Year 2000, we entered the Motor Trader
Industry Awards and were highly commended for our Modern
Vehicle Selling Apprenticeship Programme and were delighted to
win the Aftersales section for our centralised call centre.


DEALERSHIP EXPANSION PROGRAMME

Our proactive expansion programme has resulted in a further 18
outlets being added to the Group in a period extending just
over 2 months.

In early July we purchased the share capital of Mark Kass
Limited  based in London and the South East.  Mark Kass holds
3 Nissan and 2 Toyota franchises with a further Toyota
dealership in the course of construction.  This gives us a
solid base in the South East  from which to operate presenting
greater economies of scale when combined with our own
businesses.

We are also very pleased to have entered into a franchising
agreement with Nissan to cover the Greater Manchester area.
The Nissan Manchester business was purchased from Ryland Group
plc and relocated into our motor village at Stretford,
Manchester.  Agreement was also reached with them to occupy
their premises in Hale on a short-term basis.  We have
replaced Mitsubishi in our Stockport motor village with Nissan
thus utilising their vacant territory.  We have also entered
into agreements to occupy premises in Rochdale and Oldham to
once again provide representation in these areas.  We continue
to work successfully alongside Renault and Nissan in Northern
Ireland and welcome the close tie-up between these two
manufacturers.

The Group is well established on Merseyside and to complement
our various activities in this area our first Honda dealership
was purchased in a prominent position close to Albert Dock.
We intend to develop further our relationship with Honda and
agreement has already been reached to extend our original
territory.

In addition, we recently completed the purchase of the assets
of Windsor Auto Sales (Colchester) Limited which extends our
existing Renault territory from our dealership in Chelmsford.
We have also finalised the purchase of Godfrey Davis Renault
in Hadleigh and this completes the enlarged Renault marketing
territory.


Our Northern Ireland subsidiary, Charles Hurst has recently
purchased from the Prentice Group the business and assets of 3
Renault and 2 Chrysler Jeep dealerships.

The total cost of these acquisitions amounted to £13M.  These
developments with our selected partners will ensure that the
Group is well positioned to take advantage of a more stable
trading climate.


BOARD COMPOSITION

The Group has expanded rapidly during a short period of time
and the opportunity has been taken to strengthen the Board of
Directors.  I am delighted to welcome Brian Schumacker who has
been employed by the Group for 15 years to take up the
position of Operations Director - North and Mark Kass
following the acquisition of his very successful motor group
to take up the position of Operations Director - South.

Gerard Ryan, the Chief Executive of GE Capital Woodchester in
the UK has been appointed as a non-Executive Director and Neil
Clyne - the Sales Director of GE Capital Woodchester in the UK
- has been appointed as his alternate.


CURRENT OUTLOOK

The mainland motor division has achieved very strong sales
growth in a market overshadowed by the new car pricing issue.
Profits have improved significantly from  our industry leading
retail facilities.

We have a sound business in Northern Ireland which is
continuing to perform exceedingly well.

Our agricultural machinery division continues to operate in a
difficult trading climate and we are very actively pursuing
the reduction of capital employed in this business.

Our motor dealerships overall have operated well and this
background has enabled us to add a significant number of
outlets to the Group at a time when good value could be
achieved.
The new car pricing order, bringing lower car prices will
stimulate sales.  We welcome the fact that our overall buying
power will allow us to purchase on similar terms to large
fleets, improving our trading position and enabling us to pass
on lower prices to our customers.

In our opinion, the latest new car pricing trends have been
taken account of fully in the used car market and therefore it
is unlikely that there will be further major downward
adjustments.

Early indications show encouraging results at our new outlets
and the entire group will benefit from stability being
restored to the marketplace.  We look forward to the future
with confidence.



C McKinney
Chairman
5 September 2000

                             Half-year   Half-year     Fifteen
                              ended 30    ended 30      months
                             June 2000   June 1999    ended 31
                                                      December
                                                          1999
                           (Unaudited) (Unaudited)   (Audited)
                                  £000        £000        £000
                                                              
Turnover                       297,865     280,885     652,509
                               -------     -------     -------
Operating Profit                 6,449       6,172       9,187
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
Profit on closure/sale of                                     
continuing operations                -           -         948
                               -------     -------     -------
Profit before interest           6,449       6,172      10,135
Interest payable                 1,420       1,635       3,693
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
Profit on ordinary                                            
activities before taxation       5,029       4,537       6,442
Taxation                         1,509       1,361       1,611
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
Profit after taxation                                         
attributable to                  3,520       3,176       4,831
shareholders                   -------     -------     -------
Dividends - preference             585         585       1,169
shares
          - accrued                  -           -         292
preference shares
          - ordinary shares        868         868       2,754
                               -------     -------     -------
Basic earnings per ordinary       8.8p        7.8p       10.1p
shares                         -------     -------     -------

The above results all derive from continuing operations

Consolidated Balance Sheet (Summarised)


                                                            31
                               30 June     30 June    December
                                  2000        1999        1999
                           (Unaudited) (Unaudited)   (Audited)
                                  £000        £000        £000
                                                              
FIXED ASSETS                                                  
Intangible assets                9,828      10,482      10,155
Tangible assets                 68,937      66,062      70,225
                               -------     -------     -------
                                78,765      76,544      80,380
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
CURRENT ASSETS                                                
Stocks                          59,968      67,254      64,036
Debtors                         39,714      41,151      22,260
Cast at Bank and in Hand            30          31          29
                               -------     -------     -------
                                99,712     108,436      86,325
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
CURRENT LIABILITIES                                           
Bank Overdrafts                 15,559      16,946      11,332
Trade Creditors                 46,758      50,383      42,022
Other Creditors                 29,862      33,793      22,020
Proposed Dividend                  868         868       1,886
                               -------     -------     -------
                                93,047     101,990      77,260
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
Net Current assets               6,665       6,446       9,065
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
Total assets less current       85,430      82,990      89,445
liabilities
Long term liabilities and       13,972      20,945      19,836
provisions                     -------     -------     -------
Shareholders' funds             71,458      62,045      69,609
                               -------     -------     -------
Shareholders' funds are                                       
attributable to
Non-equity shareholders'        14,591      14,613      14,613
funds
Equity shareholders' funds      56,867      47,432      54,996
                               -------     -------     -------
                                71,458      62,045      69,609
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
Total borrowings                29,575      38,383      27,736
                               -------     -------     -------
                                                              
Gearing                            41%         62%         40%


Consolidated Cashflow Statement (Summarised)

                             Half-year   Half-year     Fifteen
                              ended 30    ended 30      months
                             June 2000   June 1999    ended 31
                                                      December
                                                          1999
                           (Unaudited) (Unaudited)   (Audited)
                                 £000         £000        £000
                                                              
Net Cash Inflow from                                          
Operating Activities             2,553       4,303      15,197
Interest paid                  (1,420)     (1,635)     (3,686)
Taxation paid                    (438)       (438)     (2,212)
Net Cash Outflow from                                         
Capital Expenditure               (63)     (5,343)    (10,253)
Dividends paid                 (2,471)     (2,470)     (3,923)
Net Cash (Outflow)/Inflow                                     
from Financing                 (2,387)       3,419       1,070
                               -------     -------     -------
DECREASE IN CASH               (4,226)     (2,164)     (3,807)

Notes

1.   Dividends

(a)  Ordinary shares of 25p
     The interim dividend proposed at the rate of 2.6p per
     share (1999 - 2.6p per share) is payable on 30 November
     2000 to shareholders on the register at the close of
     business on 3 November 2000.  Part of the consideration
     for the acquisition of the Mark Kass Group was the issue
     of 478,527 ordinary shares to the vendors.  Completion
     took place in July and the shares were then issued.
     Consequently, at 30th June, there was no liability to
     provide for the interim dividend amounting to £12,000 on
     these shares, however, they will be eligible to receive
     the interim dividend on the due date.

(b)  8% Cumulative redeemable preference shares of £1 each
     The preference dividend of 4.0p per share (1999 - 4.0p
     per share) was paid on 31 March 2000. The next preference
     dividend is payable on 29 September 2000 to preference
     shareholders on the register at the close of business on
     15 September 2000

2.   Earnings per share

     The earnings per share is based on profit on ordinary
     activities after taxation and preference dividends
     calculated on a weighted average of 33,380,730 ordinary
     shares in issue during the period (1999 - 33,378,627)

3.   Comparative Figures

     The accounts for the fifteen month period ended 31
     December 1999 are not full accounts. A copy of the full
     accounts for that period, on which the Auditors have
     issued an unqualified report, has been delivered to the
     Registrar of Companies

     The accounting policies adopted for the six months ended
     30 June 2000 are consistent with those used for the
     fifteen month period ended 31 December 1999.


4.   Interim Statement

     The interim statement will be posted to ordinary and
     preference shareholders today. Copies will also be
     available to the public at the registered office of the
     company at 776 Chester Road, Stretford, Manchester M32
     OQH

Executive Directors

F S Maguire - Deputy Chairman & Chief Executive
A S Marston F.C.A - Financial Director
D J Blakeman LL.B - Secretary
H K Surgenor - Managing Director - Northern Ireland
B Schumacker - Operations Director - North
M J Kass - Operations Director - South


Non-Executive Directors

C McKinney - Chairman
G J Morris
G Ryan
D O'Connor - (Alternate to C McKinney)
N Clyne - (Alternate to G Ryan)


Registered Office

776 Chester Road
Stretford
Manchester
M32 OQH
Telephone : [phone]
Website:     www.lookers.plc.uk

Registrars and Transfer Office

Northern Registrars Limited
Northern House
Woodsome Park
Fenay Bridge
Huddersfield
HD8 OLA
Telephone : [phone]