It's not often you see the words "breakout" in financial reports relating to the automotive sector, let alone figures to show four consecutive years of annual growth, but free from the actual business of creating cars, the AA's latest annual results appear to suggest that betting on breakdowns is a sound investment amid healthy demand from drivers.

With 14m members on its books, the reasons why things are going so right for the AA may of course be more complex. In its own headlining of the FY25 results, the company, which is majority owned by TowerBrook Capital Partners and Warburg Pincus (while Stonepeak also holds a minority stake), said its ongoing fiscal virility comes down to "fundamental transformation and modernisation".

Stemming back to 1905, the key factors for the Hampshire-based service which has some 2,700 patrols attending 9,000 breakdowns a day, were:

● The attraction of some 300,000 new customers, bringing £16.3m in revenue.

● Total revenue up 12% to £1,450m (FY24:£1,298m).

● Net revenue up 8% to £1,213m (FY24:£1,121m)

● Adjusted EBITDA up 6% to £450m (FY24: £424m).

● Operating profit up 28% to £245m (FY24: £192m).

The latter was driven by "strong underlying performance and non recurrence of items vs FY24, including the completion of the Stonepeak transaction and cost-of-living payment made last year," the report said.

In all, patrols dealt with 3.5m breakdowns in FY25, the most in the UK, while Trustpilot scoring rose to 4.6, which the report said reflected investment in customer service. Net debt was reduced to £1.9bn against the previous financial year's £2.2bn, with £174m of gross debt debt paid, including £155m from the Stonepeak transaction.

We don't so much call up the AA as tap them up now, and in line with the digital imperative for business, the AA said that among its 3.3m app users it hit a milestone of more tham one million incidents where the breakdown was managed end-to-end by speech-free technology. Some 50% of eligible members are now hooked up to this route and using it as their first approach from the roadside.

The AA says that extending its retail offer through a new partnership with NatWest Boxed and its financial services business now means it offers a differentiated product range for personal breakdown members and insurance customers, while greater savings have been foiund through expansion of its Mobile Mechanics proposition (where servicing is caried out on the customer's driveway) following a successful pilot.

It also says it is working on further extension into the B2B market, while continued preparations for the EV transition, with almost all patrols trained to level 2 EV readiness, ongoing.

Jakob Pfaudler, CEO, said: "FY25 was a breakout year for The AA, with the continued turnaround of the business culminating in our fourth consecutive year of accelerating growth since the take private in 2021. We have continued to improve the financial health of the business, reducing both our leverage and net debt, further cementing this as a year of success for The AA."

He added: "The AA has now entered an exciting new phase, shifting focus from transformation to expansion, and it has been extremely encouraging to see that the new financial year has already started with customer and EBITDA growth carrying forward and the medium term leverage ratio of 4.0x firmly within our sights. With a strong foundation in place, cemented market leadership, and a clear roadmap for growth, we are ready to take The AA to the next level."

Despite the good results and customer growth, Mr Pfaudler said the AA's investors believed there was "unfinished business and more to be done", but he did not rule out an eventual sale or exit.

● For growing numbers of EV users on its books, the AA says it will soon add chargepoint mapping on its app. Late last year, AA's research found that many drivers were experiencing a "crisis of confidence" for any switch to electric cars.