Sonic Automotive Inc.
(
SAH
) has announced that it expects adjusted earnings per share for
full-year 2012 in the band of $1.65 to $1.70. This represents an
increase from the earlier guidance of $1.62 to $1.70.
The adjusted earnings guidance excludes the costs associated with
the retirement of the outstanding 5.0% Convertible Senior Notes
due 2029 and tax benefits associated with the settlement of tax
matters incurred in the second and third quarters of 2012.
Including these items, the company expects earnings per share
from continuing operations to be in the range of $1.49 to $1.54.
Sonic Automotive will report its third quarter 2012 results on
October 23. The company expects adjusted earnings per share for
the quarter to be 40 cents. It expects third quarter results to
be driven by double-digit retail volume expansion and cost
efficiency. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third quarter is
46 cents per share.
Sonic Automotive, in the second quarter of 2012, recorded a 16%
growth in adjusted earnings per share to 43 cents from 37 cents
per share in the year-ago quarter. The results surpassed the
Zacks Consensus Estimate of 41 cents per share. Reported earnings
from continuing operation were $27.5 million or 46 cents per
share compared with $22.9 million or 38 cents per share
registered a year ago.
Total revenues went up 12.3% year over year to $2,185.2 million
from $1,945.9 million in the year-ago quarter, exceeding the
Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,168 million. The increase was
driven by good performance across all businesses as well as
improved unit sales of used vehicles.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sonic Automotive is a Fortune 500
company. It is one of the largest automotive retailers in the
U.S. The company operates 100 dealerships spread across 15 states
and 26 major metropolitan markets. It represents about 30
different automotive brands with the majority of the dealerships
being luxury and import brands. It competes with
AutoNation Inc.
(
AN
) and
CarMax Inc.
(
KMX
).
Currently, Sonic Automotive retains a Zacks #2 Rank, which
translates into a short-term (1 to 3 months) Buy rating.
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