Total revenue and gross profit were down 5% and 2% from a year ago, respectively, with Hurricane Irma having a significant impact on sales in the group’s core Florida and Georgia markets. F&I was a bright spot, with total gross profit up 4% and the group’s per-copy average increasing by $142 from a year ago to $1,547.
Like other public groups, Group 1’s business was hampered in the first quarter by extreme weather conditions, losing about 9% of its total available selling days through Feb. 16. Luckily, March turned out to be a strong sales month for the group.
The group reported during it quarterly conference call that earnings per share were up 34% from the year-ago quarter, an all-time record for the group. On the same day, Executive Vice President and COO Michael Kearney announced his retirement.
Public dealer groups continue to exercise discipline in terms of their acquisition strategy, but The Banks Report shows that acquisition activity was robust overall last year — particularly during the opening and closing months of 2013.
A new report indicates that merger-and-acquisition activity among public dealer groups dropped 55 percent in the first half of 2012.
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