By Yadarisa Shabong
(Reuters) -Inchcape shares fell more than 10% on Tuesday after the British automotive distributor warned demand in its key Americas market this year was likely to be towards historic lows.
The company, which exports cars for global manufacturers across 40 countries, gave the downbeat forecast as it reported a 35% jump in 2023 adjusted pretax profit to 502 million pounds ($636 million).
The Americas is Inchcape's largest market by revenue and the company said demand was expected to be particularly weak in Chile and Colombia. It did not give further details.
High inflation and interest rates have put a strain on household finances across the globe, denting purchases of big ticket items such as cars.
Finance chief Adrian Lewis told Reuters that disruptions to international shipping via the Red Sea route had not had a major business impact.
"We see actually a very resilient supplying routing outside of that particular route," he added.
Inchcape over the last seven years has doubled the number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) it distributes for, benefiting from more Chinese automakers, including electric vehicle makers, exporting to Europe and globally.
"Operationally, the company continued to make strategic progress – with 15 new distribution contracts and is now the leading independent distributor of Chinese vehicles," JP Morgan analysts wrote in a note.
Lewis said he had seen "greater global representation" from Chinese OEMs as they move from domestic production and supply to international markets.
"The number of new EVs coming to market from both Chinese and European manufacturers has significantly accelerated in 2023 and we expect that to continue," Lewis added.
"But at the same time around the world we've seen consumer demand run at different paces and the EV adoption rates running at different paces in different parts of the world."
($1 = 0.7888 pounds)