| The quick spike in gas prices presented a challenging second quarter for Penske Automotive Group, Inc., an international automotive retailer. Still, the company reported that second quarter income from continuing operations increased 1.2 percent to $40.5 million. "The second quarter was very challenging at the retail level," says Roger Penske, the company's chairman. "With the rise in gas prices, we saw a rapid shift in consumer demand to more fuel efficient vehicles. Overall, I am very pleased with our performance as our brand mix and diversified business played an important role in achieving growth in income from continuing operations during the quarter. I am particularly pleased to see that our same-store used vehicle unit sales increased 7.3 percent in the U.S., and that our worldwide new vehicle margins held at 8.4 percent, despite the difficult market conditions." During the quarter, Penske executives report that related earnings per share increased 2.4 percent to $0.43 per share. Net income in the second quarter was $39.9 million, or $0.42 per share, compared with net income of $40.4 million, or $0.43 per share, in the prior year. Revenues of $3.4 billion in the second quarter were consistent with the prior year. Same store retail revenues declined 5.9 percent, as unit sales of new vehicles fell 7.7 percent in the quarter. For the six months ended June 30, 2008, revenues increased 1.9 percent to $6.6 billion. Income from continuing operations for the six months was $74.4 million, which represents an 8.0 percent increase over adjusted income from continuing operations of $68.9 million in the prior year. Related earnings per share was $0.79 in 2008, which represents an 8.2 percent increase over adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations in the prior year. Net income for the six months was $73.8 million, which represents a 9.8 percent increase over adjusted net income of $67.2 million in the prior year. Related earnings per share was $0.78 in 2008, which represents a 9.9 percent increase over adjusted earnings per share in the prior year. Adjusted 2007 earnings exclude $12.3 million ($0.13 per share) of after-tax costs relating to the redemption of the company’s 9.625 percent Senior Subordinated Notes in March 2007. Reported income from continuing operations and net income for the six months ended June 30, 2007 were $56.6 million, or $0.60 per share, and $54.9 million, or $0.58 per share, respectively. For more information about Penske Automotive, visit the company's Web site. |
