Penske 1st quarter profit soars on auto sales jump

BLOOMFIELD HILLS (AP) -- Penske Automotive Group Inc. said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit jumped 38 percent, as higher consumer demand for cars and trucks boosted its sales. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based automotive retailer reported net income of $46.8 million, or 52 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31, up from $33.9 million, or 37 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding losses from discontinued operations, the company reported earnings from continuing operations of $50.2 million, or 55 cents per share, for the latest quarter. Revenue rose 18 percent to $3.24 billion from $2.75 billion, as total retail unit sales jumped 18 percent to 81,472 cars and trucks. Unit sales of new vehicles rose 12 percent, while unit sales of used vehicles surged 27 percent. The results easily beat Wall Street predictions. Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 48 cents per share on $3.12 billion in revenue, according to a FactSet poll. Penske said sales of new vehicles increased 14 percent to $1.58 billion, while used vehicle sales jumped 22 percent to $969.7 million. Parts and service revenue rose 8.3 percent to $369.7 million, while sales of fleet and wholesale vehicles jumped 48 percent to $244.6 million. Revenue at dealerships open at least a year rose 7.5 percent. The growth included an 8.5 percent increase at U.S. locations and 5.9 percent growth at international dealerships. The metric is considered a key measure of a retailer'as health because it excludes sales at locations that opened or closed during the year. Penske shares rose 11 cents to $26.67 in morning trading Wednesday. They are near their 52-week high of $27.58 set last Friday. Its shares are up almost 80 percent from their low of $14.87 set in early October. Published: Fri, Apr 27, 2012