CHARLOTTE, N.C. -

Fueled by record used-vehicle sales, Sonic Automotive posted a robust first-quarter net-income jump.

Company executives reported Tuesday that their net income came in at $14.9 million, up from $4.1 million generated in the first quarter of last year. As a result, Sonic determined first-quarter earnings from continuing operations were 27 cents per diluted share compared to 12 cents per diluted share in the prior-year quarter.

Serving as a catalyst for growth was Sonic’s used-vehicle operations. The company said its first quarter used-vehicle retail volume was 18 percent higher, with used-vehicle retail revenues strengthening 15 percent.

Elsewhere, the company also reported its parts and service revenue climbed 6 percent compared to the first quarter of last year.

“The used vehicle business remains very robust and we continue to gain market share,” stated Jeff Dyke, Sonic’s executive vice president of operations. “Our playbook implementation is the most advanced in this segment of our business, but we continue to see tremendous growth potential.

“In our parts and service business, the growth trends we saw in the second half of 2010 have continued into 2011,” he went on to say. “Growing this high margin area of our business remains a key focus of our operational playbook rollout.”

On the new-vehicle side of its business, Sonic said volume jumped 27 percent in the first quarter.

The combined used- and new-vehicle performances helped Sonic achieve a continuing operations net profit level that was $9.2 million, or 140 percent higher than the first quarter of 2010.

The company also mentioned its total first-quarter revenues moved up 19 percent over the prior-year quarter.

Sonic went on to highlight four other points in its business overview:

—Company growth trends continue across all business lines.

—Automotive retailing industry continues its steady rebound.

—SG&A metrics improved significantly from prior-year quarter.

—Profits continue to benefit from debt reduction strategy.

“We are pleased with this quarter’s operating performance.” Sonic president Scott Smith said. “Our continuing operations profit was up significantly from the prior year quarter due to our strong revenue growth and the improvement in our SG&A to gross profit metrics. We saw no disruption to our first quarter business from the natural disaster in Japan."

Since Dyke delved into how Sonic’s used operations fared, Smith elaborated further on the company’s new-vehicle business.

“Sonic Automotive’s new-vehicle volume grew 27 percent over the first quarter of last year compared with new-vehicle industry volume growth of 18 percent over the same period,” Smith pointed out.

“Our ability to outperform the industry trend is a direct result of our strategy to grow our base business through the implementation of predictable, repeatable and sustainable best practices at each of our dealerships,” he insisted.

And along with these best practices, Sonic mentioned three other segments of its ongoing strategy:

—Organic growth through focus on the base business.

—Converting leased properties to owned properties.

—Opportunistically reducing debt.

“We are seeing similar results in each of our business lines as we continue the rollout of our operational playbooks,” Smith noted. “We continued to see strong, steady growth in the automotive retailing sector this quarter and expect that to continue over the course of this year.”

Coinciding with its first quarter financial statement, Sonic also revealed Tuesday that its board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share payable in cash for shareholders of record on June 15.

The company said the dividend will be payable July 15.