In March Bentley Motors became its main shareholder after buying Australian car distribution company Balverona's 27.9 per cent stake.

Through its Jack Barclay site in central London, Bentley is HR Owen's largest manufacturer partner.

“There had been a great deal of potentially destabilising speculation regarding the company's ownership,” said chairman John MacArthur.

He said the group's restructure of its business had led to an encouraging start to the year.

“Our decision to downsize and concentrate on our luxury brands has worked well and I am pleased to report that overall trading for the group was strong during the first quarter.

“This has continued to date and we expect the second quarter to deliver a good result as well.”

MacArthur said specialist new car sales had been particularly strong last quarter, but the used car market had been tougher, with margins under pressure.

HR Owen is continuing to negotiate the sale of its two Volvo franchises to its management and hopes to complete the deal by the fourth quarter.

After reporting good performance from its Ferrari and Maserati dealership in St Albans, HR Owen has said it plans to relocate the brands' aftersales business in London to a new facility at Park Royal.

After this, the company said it will relocate its BMW and Mini aftersales operation to its Acton service facility, centralising all its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce operations.