Inchcape was seen as being at the at the top of its "feast or famine" certificate of entitlement cycle, the Singapore government's programme designed to limit car ownership and the number of vehicles on the country's roads. This led Barclays to project declines in new car sales on the lion island with EBITDA to decline by as much as 60%, as had happened between 2008 and 2012, plus an impact of strengthening sterling in recent months. The bank also pointed to Inchcape's £1.6bn inventory, 60% of which had been financed with short-term loans reported in trades payable as opposed to debt as being a mid-term concern for the group. Global declines in consumer sentiment when it came to the purchase of new auto-vehicles also concerned the analysts. As of 1420 GMT, shares had lost 1.10% to 716.50p.