How used-car ops fared for Asbury

Asbury Automotive Group sold more than 21,000 used cars last quarter and it has generated more than $1.3 billion in used retail revenues this year.
But what about its same-store results? Gross profits? Gross margins?
We’ve got a rundown below that gives a better glimpse of how the public retailer performed in the third quarter and how its year-to-date metrics stack up against last year’s.
Q3 Overall
Asbury pulled in $493 million of total used-vehicle revenue in the third quarter, up 8 percent year-over-year. Of that sum, $438.8 million was retail (up 10 percent) and $54.2 million was wholesale (down 6 percent).
Used retail gross profits were at $35.2 million (up 8 percent), with used wholesale gross at a negative $1.8 million, bringing overall used gross profits to $33.4 million (up 7 percent).
Average gross profit per unit for used vehicles was $1,652, down 1 percent year-over-year.
Used-vehicle retail gross margins were at 8 percent, down from 8.2 percent a year ago.
Asbury retailed 21,306 used vehicles, beating the Q3 2014 sum by 9 percent. The used-to-new ratio for the quarter was 75.1 percent, compared to 79.6 percent a year ago.
Q3 Same-Store
On a same-store basis, Asbury notched used retail revenue of $407 million (up 4 percent) and wholesale revenue of $50.8 million (down 9 percent), with total used revenue at $457.8 million (up 2 percent).
Used retail gross profits came in at $32.7 million (up 2 percent), with wholesale gross at negative $1.7 million, bringing the total used gross profits to $31 million (up 1 percent).
Average used-vehicle gross profit per unit hit $1,664, relatively unchanged from last year’s figure of $1,658.
Used retail gross margins were at 8 percent, down from 8.2 percent a year earlier.
Same-store used retail sales were at 19,649 (up 2 percent), results in a used-to-new ratio of 74.9 percent (against 79.4 percent in Q3 2014).
Year-to-Date Overall
So far this year, Asbury has reached $1.31 billion in retail used revenue (up 13 percent), $164.2 million in wholesale revenue (up 3 percent) and $1.47 billion in total used revenue (up 12 percent).
As for gross profits, they have tallied $102.4 million for overall used (up 4 percent), with used retail making up $105.6 million (up 6 percent) and wholesale contributing a $3.2 million deficit.
Average used-vehicle gross profit per unit is $1,672, down 4 percent year-over-year.
Used retail gross margins are down from 8.6 percent to 8.1 percent.
They have moved 63,164 retail used vehicles this year for an 11-percent gain, making the year-to-date used-to-new ratio 79.1 percent, versus 79.8 percent through three quarters of 2014.
Year-to-Date Same-Store
Lastly, here’s a run-down of Asbury’s same-store results through nine months.
Retail used revenues have increased 6 percent to $1.20 billion, wholesale revenues have dipped 3 percent to $151.4 million and total used revenues have moved up 5 percent to $1.36 billion.
As for gross profits, the $95.3 million total used vehicle tally (which is down 2 percent year-over-year) includes $98.1 million in retail gross profits and a negative of $2.8 million in wholesale gross profits.
Average gross profit per unit for used vehicles was down 3 percent at $1,692, with used vehicle retail gross margins down from 8.6 percent to 8.1 percent.
Through Q3, the dealership group has sold 57,977 used retail units on a same-store basis, up 3 percent from the same period of last year. This has resulted in a used-to-new ratio of 78.0 percent, versus 79.7 percent last year.