Annual results bolstered by Victoria and South Australia truck divisions
Vehicle retailer AP Eagers has lifted annual net profit 3.7 per cent to $99.6 million on a 1.3 per cent rise in revenue to $4.11 billion in a year where truck sales were to the fore.
The National Truck division delivered a record result for the second consecutive year, with a before-tax result of $10.9 million compared to $9 million for the previous full year result
This reflected a “strong performance in all departments including improved results from the new truck division and service division.
Revenue fose 12.1 per cent, “reflecting strong performance in the Victoria and South Australia truck divisions”.
This was partly offset by the divestment of Sydney Truck Centre in June 2017, with the segment “continuing to restructure the business to drive business optimisation and deliver improved returns”.
Nationally, the Heavy Commercial segment recorded significant growth of 12.4 per cent, on top of 2017’s 11.8 per cent growth, with increases in light/medium duty trucks and heavy-duty sales of 8.4 per cent and +20.9 per cent respectively
“The Group’s National Trucks division again capitalised on strong growth in the Heavy and Light commercial sales, resulting in a record result for 2018. This result continues the strong performance and growth of the National Trucks division since 2015.
The Light commercial vehicle market share up 0.8 per cent to 20.6 per cent, offsetting decline in luxury vehicle market share of 0.3 per cent to 10.4 per cent.
AP Eagers flagged trucks boosting its performance last month. Read about it here
Profit before tax included dividends from Automotive Holdings Group (AHG) of $13.9 million, compared with $14.5 million the year before, a decline of 3.9 per cent, despite AP Eagers increasing its AHG holding from 23.81% at December 31, 2017 to 28.84 holding at December 31 , 2018.
Like AHG, AP Eagers is in the midst of a structural review – not least to “adapt over the coming decades to accommodate a greater proportion of electric vehicles and then eventually more autonomous vehicles” – and, like its rival it is facing regulatory changes related to vehicle finance.