Asbury Automotive Group announced its second quarter results on Tuesday, reporting a total of 21,685 used cars retailed during Q2, up from 20,263  sold during the same period of last year — for a 7-percent spike in used sales. Total new-vehicle sales came in at 26,069, up from 25,131 compared to the same time in 2017. 

And the dealer group was making a bit more on most new and used vehicles sold, as well, according to the second quarter results. The average selling price of a used vehicle retailed in Q2 was $21,715, up from $21,231 in Q2 2017. On the new side, the average selling price was $35,625, up from $35,132. 

The company reported net income of $43.2 million, and adjusted net income of $42.7 million. This is up from $31.9 million in net income and adjusted net income of $33.2 million during the same quarter of 2017. For the first half of the year, Asbury reported revenue totaled $3.33 billion, representing an increase of 5 percent over the same period of last year, as well as reported net income of $83.3 million, compared to $65.9 million last year. 

The dealer group, like many publicly traded companies, experienced some easing of tax burdens this year. Asbury leadership announced that as a result of the tax legislation passed in December of 2017, the tax rate in the second quarter of 2018 for the dealer group was 26 percent, compared to 38 percent in Q2 of 2017. 

As far as noteworthy news from Asbury from this past quarter past quarter, dealer group bought a Chevrolet dealership in the Atlanta market, which it expects to generate about $120 million in annual revenue. The dealer group also repurchased 20 million of common stock. 

"In a healthy SAAR environment, we grew revenue 6 percent despite, continued margin pressure. We also improved our SG&A as a percentage of gross profit by 90 basis points and maintained our industry-leading operating margins while further investing in our omni-channel capabilities," said David Hult, Asbury's president and chief executive officer.

 "We continued with our balanced approach to capital allocation, repurchasing $20 million of our common stock and acquiring a Chevrolet dealership and a Toyota dealership in the Atlanta market,” he continued.

Breaking down some same-store stats that illustrate Asbury’s performance, new-vehicle revenue increased by 3 percent, while gross profit fell by 3 percent in Q2. Used-vehicle revenue was up even more, with an 8-percent hike. Same-store used vehicle gross profit also increased by 2 percent. For same-store numbers, finance and insurance review and gross profit were up 5 percent, while parts and service revenue remained flat. 

Stay tuned to Auto Remarketing for more news from Asbury’s second quarter performance stemming from their quarterly conference call.