Pre-owned car dealership Jetcon Corporation Ltd will begin its push in the wholesaling of vehicles to other dealers as it seeks to improve the flat sales recorded in 2018.

The 25-year-old company which topped the billion-dollar mark in revenue in 2017 after listing on the Junior Stock Market, hit a speed bump last year from a combination of poor sales in July — one of the best months for the dealer – higher expenses and reductions in other operating income.

Inventories at the end of 2018 climbed to $434 million, compared to $393 million at the end of 2017.

“Revenues for 2018, although above the $1-billion mark for the second consecutive year, decreased slightly by 1.2 per cent but profit declined by 40 per cent to $92 million,” Managing Director Andrew Jackson told shareholders in an adjoining statement to the company’s 2018 audited reports.

In response, Jetcon increased focus on vehicle servicing, which improved service income by 128 per cent year over year, the company said. It added that growth in the service segment to date stands at 285 per cent over the similar period in 2018.

The company’s core business, vehicle sales, is also up 10 per cent in 2018 for the month ending February and 9 per cent up in January 2019. Growth prospects for the wholesaling of vehicles to dealers also looks promising for the company, Jackson reasoned.

In 2017, Jetcon took the decision to invest in new facilities to accommodate increased sales. As a result, the company increased spending on a leased property at Kingston Wharves motor vehicle centre at Tinson Pen on Marcus Garvey Drive.

Jetcon is one of only two car dealers granted the privilege of using the facility and the only pre-owned dealer with this access.

The company noted that the adjustments in the pre-inspection practices introduced by the Government has resulted in it changing the method of transporting vehicles into the island, thus increasing pre-delivery costs.

Jetcon closed the 2018 financial year with cash and cash equivalents of $6.3 million, down from $14.8 million in 2017.