DULUTH, Ga. -
Strength in the used-vehicle segment, among other factors, was pivotal in helping Asbury Automotive Group achieve stronger profits in the third quarter, the company said Thursday as it released its quarterly earnings report.
Specifically, Asbury saw its net income increase from $7.4 million to $12.5 million on a year-over-year basis. Income from continuing operations was $12 million, up from $10 million a year ago.
For both the third quarter and the year-ago period, income from continuing operations was negatively impacted by non-core items. There was a $0.06 per share downward impact on the most recent results, and a $0.02 per share impact on the results from the third quarter of 2009.
Continuing on, revenue for the recent period climbed 9 percent on a year-over-year basis to $1.1 billion.
Explaining the revenue upswing, officials pointed to used-vehicle revenue climbing 19 percent, a 6-percent gain on the new side, parts and service revenue climbing 2 percent and F&I revenue moving ahead 21 percent.
“The increased third quarter profitability was notable for the strong performance of our used-vehicle, parts and service, and F&I businesses in spite of a relatively flat, quarter over quarter, new vehicle industry sales market,” shared Charles Oglesby, the company’s president and chief executive officer.
“The continued leveraging of Asbury’s cost structure is further evidence of the benefits from our focus on expense management,” he continued.
Craig Monaghan, senior vice president and chief financial officer, added: “We made good progress in improving our balance sheet over the quarter. We repurchased $25 million of our convertible notes. We continually evaluate opportunities in the capital markets to further improve our financial position.
“I am also pleased to report that our DMS conversion is going well with our first four stores having gone live in September,” Monaghan continued.
Wrapping it up, Oglesby further noted: “We continue to deliver improving performance each quarter despite a difficult economic recovery. We believe the actions we have been taking will produce long-term benefits for our various stakeholders as the market improves.”