lookers plc said tuesday that its underlying pretax profit for the full year is expected to be materially ahead of its previous views and said it will launch a share buyback program the londonlisted car dealership said it now expects an underlying pretax profit of at least 75 million pounds 852 million for the year in 2021 it reported underlying pretax profit of gbp901 million it said it maintains a strong new car order bank above historical normalized levels the uk new car market declined by 01 in the third quarter it said although we are pleased with the recent positive trading performance the availability of new vehicles continues to be a factor limiting our growth we are also cautious on how consumer spending might be affected during the remainder of this financial year with inflation higher interest rates and wider economic uncertainty the company said lookers also said it intends to buy back up to gbp15 million in shares it will repurchase a maximum of 392 million shares with a maximum price slightly above the average market quotation for the five days preceding the purchase the buyback will run until may 31 at the latest and is intended to reduce capital and increase earnings per share