Asbury Automotive Group Announces Record 2015 Third Quarter Financial Results

DULUTH, Ga., Oct. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. ABG, one of the largest automotive retail and service companies in the U.S., today reported adjusted income from continuing operations for the third quarter 2015 of $37.3 million, or $1.43 per diluted share, versus income from continuing operations in the third quarter 2014 of $32.4 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, a 32% increase per diluted share. Income from continuing operations for the third quarter 2015 was adjusted for a $21.4 million pre-tax gain on divestitures, or $0.50 per diluted share, and a $0.8 million benefit from a lower effective tax rate, or $0.03 per diluted share. See attached reconciliation for reported adjustments related to the third quarter of 2015.  There were no adjustments for the third quarter of 2014.  Net income for the third quarter 2015 was $51.1 million, or $1.96 per diluted share, compared to $32.5 million, or $1.08 per diluted share in the prior year period.

Third Quarter 2015 Highlights (compared to the prior year period):

• Total revenues increased 14% to $1.7 billion
• New vehicle revenue up 17%; gross profit up 6%
• Used vehicle retail revenue up 10%; gross profit up 8%
• Finance and insurance revenue up 17%
• Parts and service revenue up 13%; gross profit up 12%
• Total gross profit increased 11%
• SG&A expense as a percent of gross profit improved 90 basis points to 69.2%
• Income from operations increased 16%
• Operating margin as a percentage of revenue improved 10 basis points to 4.5%
• Repurchased $104 million of common stock

"Asbury is pleased to announce another record third quarter," said Craig Monaghan, Asbury's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We continue to execute our two-part strategy: to drive operational excellence and to deploy capital to its highest returns.  During the last four quarters, we have acquired dealerships representing over $400 million in annualized revenues, reduced our share count by approximately 15% and improved our operating margins."

"Our current quarter results demonstrate, once again, the strength and diversity of our business model," said Asbury's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, David Hult. "Despite continued pressure on new vehicle margins, we increased  same store revenues 8%, grew same store gross profit 6% and delivered overall income from operations growth of 16%."

The conference call will be today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and will also be simulcast live on the Internet.  The simulcast can be accessed by logging onto www.asburyauto.com.  A replay will be available at these sites for 30 days.  In addition, a live audio of the call will be accessible to the public by calling (800) 768-6544 (domestic), or (785) 830-7990 (international); passcode - 312559.  Callers should dial in approximately 5 to 10 minutes before the call begins. A conference call replay will be available two hours following the call for seven days, and can be accessed by calling (888) 203-1112 (domestic), or (719) 457-0820 (international); passcode - 312559.

About Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. ("Asbury"), a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, is one of the largest automotive retailers in the U.S.  Built through a combination of organic growth and a series of strategic acquisitions, Asbury operated 84 dealership locations, encompassing 103 franchises for the sale and servicing of 29 domestic and foreign brands of new vehicles as of September 30, 2015.  We also operated 25 collision repair centers and 3 stand-alone used vehicle stores as of September 30, 2015. Asbury offers customers an extensive range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicle sales and related financing and insurance, vehicle maintenance and repair services, replacement parts and service contracts.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical fact, and may include statements relating to goals, plans, market conditions and projections regarding Asbury's financial position, liquidity, results of operations, market position and dealership portfolio, the benefits of its restructuring program and other initiatives and future business strategy.  These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements.  These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, market factors, Asbury's relationships with, and the financial and operational stability of, vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, acts of God or other incidents which may adversely impact supply from vehicle manufacturers and/or present retail sales challenges, risks associated with Asbury's indebtedness (including available borrowing capacity, compliance with its financial covenants and ability to refinance or repay such indebtedness, particularly upcoming maturities, on favorable terms), Asbury's relationships with, and the financial stability of, its lenders and lessors, risks related to competition in the automotive retail and service industries, general economic conditions both nationally and locally, governmental regulations, legislation, adverse results in litigation and other proceedings, and Asbury's ability to execute its IT initiatives and other operational strategies, Asbury's ability to leverage gains from its dealership portfolio, Asbury's ability to capitalize on opportunities to repurchase its debt and equity securities or purchase properties that it currently leases, and Asbury's ability to stay within its targeted range for capital expenditures.  There can be no guarantees that Asbury's plans for future operations will be successfully implemented or that they will prove to be commercially successful.

These and other risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements are and will be discussed in Asbury's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.  We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

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NM—Not Meaningful

 

 

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(1) Front end yield is calculated as gross profit from new vehicles, used retail vehicles and finance and insurance (net), divided by combined new and used retail sales.

 

 

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Same store amounts consist of information from dealerships which we operated for all of the months in both comparative periods

 

 

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Same store amounts consist of information from dealerships which we operated for all of the months in both comparative periods

(1) Front end yield is calculated as gross profit from new vehicles, used retail vehicles and finance and insurance (net), divided by combined new and used retail sales.

 

 

______________________________
NM—Not Meaningful

 

_____________________________
(1) Front end yield is calculated as gross profit from new vehicles, used retail vehicles and finance and insurance (net), divided by combined new and used retail sales.

 

_____________________________
Same store amounts consist of information from dealerships which we operated for all of the months in both comparative periods

 

 

_____________________________
Same store amounts consist of information from dealerships which we operated for all of the months in both comparative periods

(1) Front end yield is calculated as gross profit from new vehicles, used retail vehicles and finance and insurance (net), divided by combined new and used retail sales.

 

 

 

 

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Days supply of inventory is calculated based on new and used inventory levels at the end of each reporting period and a 30-day historical cost of sales

 

 

ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC.
Supplemental Disclosures
(Unaudited)

Non-GAAP Financial Disclosure and Reconciliation

In addition to evaluating the financial condition and results of our operations in accordance with GAAP, from time to time management evaluates and analyzes results and any impact on the Company of strategic decisions and actions relating to, among other things, cost reduction, growth, and profitability improvement initiatives, and other events outside of normal, or "core," business and operations, by considering certain alternative financial measures not prepared in accordance with GAAP. These measures include "Adjusted income from continuing operations," "Adjusted diluted earnings per share ("EPS") from continuing operations," "Adjusted EBITDA," "Adjusted leverage ratio," and "Adjusted SG&A expense."  Non-GAAP measures do not have definitions under GAAP and may be defined differently by and not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, any non-GAAP financial measures considered and evaluated by management are reviewed in conjunction with a review of the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Management cautions investors not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP measures, but also to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. In their evaluation of results from time to time, management excludes items that do not arise directly from core operations, or are otherwise of an unusual or non-recurring nature. Because these non-core, unusual or non-recurring charges and gains materially affect Asbury's financial condition or results in the specific period in which they are recognized, management also evaluates, and makes resource allocation and performance evaluation decisions based on, the related non-GAAP measures excluding such items.  In addition to using such non-GAAP measures to evaluate results in a specific period, management believes that such measures may provide more complete and consistent comparisons of operational performance on a period-over-period historical basis and a better indication of expected future trends. Management discloses these non-GAAP measures, and the related reconciliations, because it believes investors use these metrics in evaluating longer-term period-over-period performance, and to allow investors to better understand and evaluate the information used by management to assess operating performance.

 

 

 

The non-core operating items shown in the table below consist of expenses related to real estate transactions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SOURCE Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.