Asbury Automotive Group Announces First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

DULUTH, Ga., April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABG), one of the largest automotive retail and service companies in the U.S., today reported net income for the first quarter 2017 of $34.0 million, or $1.61 per diluted share, compared to $31.0 million, or $1.27 per diluted share in the prior year quarter. It also reported adjusted income from continuing operations (a non-GAAP measure) for the first quarter 2017 of $33.4 million, or $1.58 per diluted share, compared to $33.2 million, or $1.36 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter, a 16% increase in adjusted earnings per share.

Income from continuing operations for the first quarter 2017 was adjusted for $0.9 million of pre-tax legal settlement benefits, or $0.03 per diluted share.  Income from continuing operations for the first quarter 2016 was adjusted for $3.4 million of pre-tax real estate related charges, or $0.09 per diluted share. See attached reconciliation for reported adjustments related to both of these periods.

Total revenue for the first quarter remained flat at $1.6 billion compared to the prior year period; total revenue on a same-store basis (a non-GAAP measure) was up 3% from the prior year period.

First Quarter 2017 Operational Summary

Same store:

• Total revenues increased 3%; gross profit increased 3%
• New vehicle revenue increased 1%; gross profit decreased 9%
• Used vehicle retail revenue increased 4%; gross profit decreased 2%
• Finance and insurance gross profit increased 9%
• Parts and service revenue increased 5%; gross profit increased 5%

All store:

• SG&A as a percentage of gross profit increased 10 basis points to 69.6%
• Total company adjusted income from operations (a non-GAAP measure) as a percentage of revenue was 4.6% down 10 basis points from the prior year
• Adjusted EPS from continuing operations increased 16%

First Quarter Strategic Highlights:

• Acquired a Chevrolet franchise and an Isuzu truck franchise in Indianapolis, Indiana
• Opened a Nissan add point in Cumming, Georgia
• Repurchased $15 million of common stock

"Despite flat new vehicle industry sales and continued margin pressure, we are pleased to announce our 31^st consecutive quarter of adjusted EPS growth," said Craig Monaghan, Asbury's President and Chief Executive Officer.

"Our ability to drive incremental used sales, enhance F&I PVR, and grow parts and service enabled us to deliver same-store gross profit growth of 3% and industry leading operating margins of 4.6%," said Asbury's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, David Hult.

The conference call will be simulcast live on the Internet and can be accessed by logging onto www.asburyauto.com or www.ccbn.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 (877) 852-6579 (domestic), or (719) 325-4929 (international); passcode - 1223221.  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 - 1223221.

About Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. ("Asbury"), a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Duluth, GA, is one of the largest automotive retailers in the U.S.  Asbury currently operates 80 dealerships, consisting of 96 franchises, representing 29 domestic and foreign brands of vehicles.  Asbury also operates 24 collision repair centers and 2 stand-alone used vehicle stores.  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, 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, 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 U.S. 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.

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 leverage ratio," "Adjusted income from operations," "Adjusted income from continuing operations," and "Adjusted diluted earnings per share ("EPS") from continuing operations." Further, management assesses the organic growth of our revenue and gross profit on a same store basis. We believe that our assessment on a same store basis represents an important indicator of comparative financial performance and provides relevant information to assess our performance at our existing locations. Same store amounts consist of information from dealerships for identical months in each comparative period, commencing with the first month we owned the dealership. Additionally, amounts related to divested dealerships are excluded from each comparative period. 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 following tables provide reconciliations for our non-GAAP metrics:

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SOURCE Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.