Lithia Motors Inc. reported higher profit and record second-quarter revenue Wednesday after posting gains in all major dealership business lines except new-vehicle sales.
Net income for the Medford, Ore., auto retailer rose 2 percent to $61.9 million in the quarter, while revenue increased 4 percent to a record $3.22 billion. Revenue and gross profit grew in used-vehicle retail sales, finance and insurance and parts and service. New-vehicle revenue and gross profit slid, though new-vehicle revenue rose slightly on a same-store basis.
Lithia stock surged 12.8 percent to close at $133.34 per share on Wednesday.
The third-largest dealership group in the U.S. made two acquisitions in the second quarter.
Lithia acquired Hamilton Honda in Hamilton Township, N.J., and Ford-Lincoln of Morgantown, in West Virginia. This month, Lithia acquired its first Jaguar Land Rover store in Mission Viejo, Calif. The stores are expected to add more than $320 million in annualized revenue, Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said Wednesday.
"Expanding our physical network combined with enhanced digital solutions will allow for us to further increase market reach and drive profitability," DeBoer said in a statement.
Records: Revenue reached a record high for the quarter.
Sales: New-vehicle retail sales fell 6.4 percent to 45,887 vehicles, while used-vehicle retail sales rose 9.6 percent to 42,865 vehicles. Retail sales totaled 88,752 vehicles in the quarter, up 0.7 percent.
Same-store sales: Though same-store revenue for new-vehicle retail sales inched up 0.2 percent to $1.68 billion, same-store unit sales fell 5 percent to 45,046 new vehicles. That decline is sharper than the 1.7 percent drop in new light-vehicle sales across the U.S. during the second quarter, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Same-store used-vehicle retail sales, however, rose 12 percent to 42,250 vehicles.
Lithia ranks No. 3 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 184,601 new vehicles in 2018.
