A UK-based car distributor has seen its shares hit a four-year low after reporting a fall in sales and warning of hits ahead from Donald Trump’s trade war.

Inchcape, which exports cars for manufacturers across more than 40 countries globally, saw its stock lose up to 16.9% in early trading on Wednesday after its first quarter trading update.

It told investors that while it was not currently experiencing damage from the Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on all US car imports, revenue fell by 5% over the three months to March to £2.1bn.

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Inchcape reported a resilient performance from its Americas division but struggles in its Asia-Pacific and European markets.

The period was dominated by trade war fears generally as the US president’s second term got under way and was marked by a surge in demand for goods in the US in a bid to beat any tariffs he threatened to impose.

Inchcape blamed the revenue decline on a strong comparable period in 2024 and “mixed market momentum”, led by that dash for shipments to the US to beat the imposition of any additional US duties.

They were universally imposed earlier this month, but Mr Trump has since signalled that some exemptions may soon be applied.

There are fears that a prolonged period of trade disruption could result in job losses within the UK car industry and its supply chain.

Inchcape reaffirmed its 2025 guidance but said that excluded any impacts from tariffs.

Its actions to mitigate the effects included a focus on costs and inventory.

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Chief executive Duncan Tait said: “Demand is not currently being impacted by the tariff situation, although we do expect to see potential impacts on supply from our OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), the competitive environment, and market demand.

“We are taking proactive steps to support our key stakeholders, including taking a conservative approach to managing inventory levels, ensuring we remain disciplined on costs, focusing on cash generation and maintaining our strong balance sheet.”

Shares had recovered some poise by mid-morning, trading down by just over 7% following the initial slump.

An audio technology business used by many of the world’s leading musicians is plotting a £300m City flotation in a boost to London’s flagging stock market.

Sky News has learnt that Waves Audio, which is headquartered in Israel, has hired bankers to oversee an initial public offering which could take place as soon as June.

The company, which is majority-owned by founders Meir Sha’ashua and Gilad Keren, is expected to raise millions of pounds from the sale of new shares, although the details have yet to be finalised.

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Panmure Liberum has been appointed to work on the float.

Waves Audio makes professional digital audio signal processing technology and audio effects used in recordings, mixing, mastering, post-production, broadcasting and live sound.

It employs more than 200 people, and has a major international presence, including in Europe and the US.

A board is said to be being assembled to support Waves Audio’s transition to being a public company.

A successful float on London’s main market would be a relative rarity given the depressed level of IPO activity in recent months.

Data compiled by EY, the professional services firm, showed that there were just five new listings on the London market in the first quarter of the year.

Scott McCubbin, EY UKI IPO leader, said this month: “The IPO market thrives on stability, but ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical instability continues to subdue listing activity in the UK. Following the announcement of US trade tariffs, we’ve seen market volatility grow to levels not seen since the COVID pandemic.

“Companies considering an IPO must now weigh the risks of listing in such turbulent conditions, alongside rising input costs.

“The ambiguity surrounding global trade policy is also likely to dampen investor appetite and could lead to delayed listings or reduced valuations in the year ahead.”

Pessimism about the outlook for flotations has been compounded by a steady trickle of companies cancelling their London listings or shifting them overseas.

The UK market’s biggest hope continues to be that Shein, the Chinese-founded online fashion retailer, will defy the impact of President Trump’s tariffs and list in London in the coming months.

A spokesman for Waves Audio declined to comment.

Britain will not lower its standards or water down regulation in exchange for a trade deal with the US, the chancellor has confirmed.

Rachel Reeves was speaking ahead of a pivotal meeting with her American counterpart in Washington DC.

In an interview with Sky News, Ms Reeves said she was “confident” that a deal would be reached but said she had red lines on food and car standards, adding that changes to online safety were “non-negotiable for the British government”.

The comments mark the firmest commitment to a slew of rules and regulations that have long been a gripe for the Americans.

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The US administration is pushing for the UK to relax rules on agricultural exports, including hormone-treated beef.

While Britain could lower tariffs on some agricultural products that meet regulations, ministers have been clear that it will not lower its standards.

However, the government has been less firm with its stance on online safety.

A tech red line

The US tech industry has fiercely opposed Britain’s Online Safety Act, which was introduced in 2023 and requires tech companies to shield children from harmful content online.

In an earlier draft UK-US trade deal, the British government was considering a review of the bill in the hope of swerving US tariffs.

However, the chancellor suggested that this was no longer on the table.

“On food standards, we’ve always been really clear that we’re not going to be watering down standards in the UK and similarly, we’ve just passed the Online Safety Act and the safety, particularly of our children, is non-negotiable for the British government,” she said.

She added that Britain was “not going to water down areas of road safety”, a move that could pave the way for American SUVs that have been engineered to protect passengers but not pedestrians.

While non-tariff barriers will remain intact, it was reported on Tuesday night that the UK could lower its automotive tariff from 10% to 2.5%.

The calculations behind Reeves’s red lines

Gurpreet Narwan

Business and economics correspondent

@gurpreetnarwan

What can Britain offer the Americans if it’s not prepared to lower its standards?

Donald Trump has previously described non-tariff barriers that block US exporters as “cheating”.

Britain does have some scope to bring down tariff rates – and Rachel Reeves suggested that this was her focus – but ours is already a highly open economy, we don’t have huge scope to cut tariff rates.

The real prize for the Americans is in the realm of these non-tariff barriers.

There has been much speculation about what the UK could offer up, but the chancellor on Wednesday gave a comprehensive commitment that she would not dilute standards.

There are many who will breathe a collective sigh of relief – from UK farmers to road safety campaigners and parents of young children.

While the government is sensitive to any potential public backlash, it also has another factor to think about.

When Ms Reeves arrives back home, she will begin preparations for a UK-EU summit in London next month.

The UK’s food and road safety standards are, in many areas, in sync with Europe, and Britain is seeking even deeper integration.

Lowering standards for the Americans would make that deeper alignment with the Europeans impossible.

The chancellor has to decide which market is more valuable to Britain.

The answer is Europe.

Back at home, the chancellor suggested that she was still open to relaxing rules on the City of London, even though global financial markets have endured a period of turmoil, triggered by President Trump’s trade war.

Reforms at home?

In her Mansion House speech last November, the chancellor said post-2008 reforms had “gone too far” and set the course for deregulating the City.

Asked if that was a wise move in light of the recent sharp swings in the financial markets, Ms Reeves said: “I want regulators to regulate not just for risk but also for growth.

“We are making reforms and we have set out new remit letters to our financial services regulators.”

Britain’s borrowing costs hit their highest level in almost 30 years after Mr Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs announcements, a stark reminder that policy decisions in the US have the power to raise UK bond yields and in turn, affect the chancellor’s budget, dent her already small fiscal headroom and derail her plans for tax and spend.

However, the chancellor said she would not consider adapting her fiscal rules, which include a promise to cover day-to-day spending with tax receipts, even if it gives her more room to manoeuvre in the face of volatility.

“Fiscal rules are non-negotiable for a simple reason, that Britain must offer under this government fiscal and financial stability, which is so important in a world of global uncertainty,” she said.