STRONG year-on-year growth at Inchcape Fleet Solutions has helped its parent company increase half-yearly pre-tax profits by more than 30%. Automotive services group Inchcape has announced pre-tax profits of £83.4 million, up from £63.7 million last year.

A statement said: ‘Inchcape Fleet Solutions has shown strong year-on-year growth. It has benefited from the increased business generated by new fleet management contracts won towards the end of 2003, and better margins on the disposal of contract hire vehicles.

‘Inchcape Automotive, our Business Services division, continues to suffer margin pressure in its daily rental operations.

‘However, we have been successful in broadening the business base by targeting other fleet owners. An example of this is a recently-awarded refurbishment and remarketing contract with Bank of Scotland Vehicle Management.’