Online used car retailer Auto1 achieved record earnings at the start of the year. Gross profit rose by 22.4 percent to 289.4 million euros, the company announced on Wednesday. Adjusted operating profit improved by three percent to 59.8 million euros. With revenues of 2.4 billion euros, the company, which owns brands including wirkaufendeinauto.de, generated over a quarter more in sales than a year ago. The figures were well received by the market: the shares climbed 5.4 percent in pre-market trading on Lang & Schwarz.

(Report by Christina Amann, edited by Myria Mildenberger. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)