UNIVERSAL Salvage, which scraps damaged vehicles and auctions damaged cars for customers, is remaining confident about future business, despite losing its biggest customer.

The loss of Direct Line, which is reported to account for 50,000 vehicles out of a total volume of 125,000 vehicles, was described as a 'short-term setback' by the firm. It revealed preliminary results for the year ended April 27 that showed pre-tax profits flat at £6.5 million, compared with £6.6 million for the same period last year, while turnover was also static at £84.5 million, compared to £84.2 million.

Chairman, Alexander Foster, said: 'We remain confident of replacing the lost business and then increasing the volume of vehicles we handle.

'We see our marketplace widening outside total loss insurance vehicles. The considerable investment we have made in systems and infrastructure over the past few years means that Universal is now well-placed to handle efficiently and ethically problem vehicles including low value undamaged cars to end-of-life vehicles.'