Shares in Pendragon were up on the FTSE All Share in morning trading after the car dealer reported a rise in revenue and pre-tax profit in the full year ended 31 December 2010.

Revenue increased from £3.2 billion in the previous year to £3.6 billion, while pre-tax profit rose nearly tenfold from £1.3 million to £11 million. Before exceptional items pre-tax profit increased from £10.1 million to £25.2 million.

Net borrowings were reported as rising slightly from £315.4 million to £325.5 million.

Trevor Finn, Chief Executive of Pendragon, said, "Pendragon has made considerable strides in 2010, delivering a significant improvement in profitability over 2009. Underlying profit before tax has more than doubled reflecting the continued progress that the Group has made during the year. We have benefited from our scale as the largest car retailer in the UK combined with our success in driving performance through our operational initiatives. The results of our used car operations have been particularly pleasing with outperformance against the market. We continue to make progress in our aftersales segment despite a reduced vehicle parc in some of our key franchises. New car operations performed strongly due to the franchise mix we hold and our continued improvements in this sector. While the Group performed well in 2010, what's more pleasing is to see that momentum carried forward into January, and we look forward to it continuing during 2011."

By 11:45 shares in Pendragon were up 2.13 per cent on the FTSE All Share to 24.00 pence per share.

FTSE