BZW has forecast 5p for this year.The company, which owns 29 dealerships, still has a target of 40 outlets in the medium term. Acquisitions were planned for this year, Mr Vardy said.In March, the group will take on the Toyota dealership in the Sunderland area.. Robust performances from its housebuilding and plant-hire businesses have powered a halftime profits advance at Abbey, although directors warned that the UK housing market is now less encouraging. Reg Vardy is paying a 2p interim dividend (1.4p), which Mr Vardy said reflected the board's intention to distribute the total dividend more evenly between the two halves Last year's total was 4.6p. Last year's figure was boosted by an £800,000 property sale.The broker BZW has raised its full-year profit forecast by £500,000 to £10m. However, performance was helped by pent-up demand for the delayed new Mercedes C-class model.

Sales of the long-awaited new Jaguar XJ Series, launched in October, will feed into the second half.Analysts said the profit figures were even more impressive when a £460,000 contribution from property sales was stripped out - up 69 per cent. "This year will see manufacturers allowing more profits to come into the dealerships,'' Mr Vardyforecast.The group's sales of new and used vehicles were up from 16,486 to 21,118 in the period Turnover rose 29 per cent to £184.6m. New car sales were up 8 per cent, against a general increase of 7 per cent, according to latest figures yesterday from the Statistics Bulletin.The best performance came from the specialist division, where sales of Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Ferrari and Mercedes rose 94 per cent. Since then the group has been refocused and Sears posted profits of £138m last year.Mr Maitland Smith, or GMS as he is known at Sears, has had a varied career. A former accountant with Thornton Baker (now Grant Thornton), he was personal financial adviser to Paul McCartney between 1965 and 1970.. Reg Vardy, the motor dealer, yesterday rejected suggestions of crisis in the car industry after reporting record interim profits on the back of a sharp rise in sales of luxury vehicles. The shares jumped 13p to 165p on news that profits in the six months to October had risen from £3.5m to £5.02m. Peter Vardy, chairman, said demand was strong and the fall-off in sales of new cars simply meant buyers had switched to second-hand models."The business is there if you are aggressive enough to go out and get it,'' he said.Motor manufacturers had cut dealers' margins to the bone, and were realising that distributors were making more money out of promoting second-hand vehicles.

Some analysts consider one of his best moves was bringing in Liam Strong as chief executive from British Airways three years ago. Pre-tax profits of £555m in the boom year of 1988-89 turned into losses of £48m by 1993, when the recession gripped the high street. He is also deputy chairman of Midland Bank and on the board of its parent company, HSBC.Sears has had a rocky ride under Mr Maitland Smith's stewardship. Five to seven years is probably about right."Mr Maitland Smith, 61, will base himself at Hammerson, the property company that owns Brent Cross, where he is chairman. "I've had a wonderful innings, but when a chap's done nearly 10 years it's probably a bit too much. The post will be part-time and he will spend two or three days a week with the company. His salary has not been disclosed. The appointment seemed to underwhelm many in the City The shares fell 1p to 108p.

One analyst described Sir Bob as "a safe pair of hands" whose appointment would not signal a change of direction.The general feeling in the City is that Mr Maitland Smith hung on too long He acknowledged as much himself yesterday. Sir Bob, 60, was chairman and chief executive of Shell between 1985 and 1990. He will join Sears as chairman-designate at the beginning of April and succeed to the chair at the company's annual meeting at the end of June. Tony Shiret of BZW believes it will prove a hard slog on the high street with the gap widening between the winners and losers Nick Bubb of Morgan Stanley is more optimistic "I can see forecasts edging upin some cases," he says.. An era drew to a close at Sears, the Selfridges to Millets retail group, yesterday when Geoffrey Maitland Smith announced he was stepping down as chairman. After 25 years on the board including the past nine as chairman, he will be succeeded by S ir Bob Reid, whose contract as chairman of British Rail expires on 31 March. Sales are believed to have been flat for the first two weeks of December with a late surge - up 12 per cent - in the week before Christmas.