DETROIT -- Car dealer Group 1 Automotive Inc. on Thursday reported weaker earnings due to a Texas hailstorm that damaged or destroyed 1,000 cars.
The Houston company said second-quarter earnings fell to $15.7 million, or 67 cents per share, from $20.0 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.
Those results included an aftertax charge of $1.8 million, or 8 cents per share, due to a hailstorm in Amarillo, Texas.
Wall Street per-share earnings estimates had ranged between 67 cents and 70 cents, with an average of 69 cents, according to a survey of four analysts by Reuters Estimates.
Group 1 said this month that it expected second-quarter earnings in the range of 65 cents per share to 69 cents per share, below Wall Street forecasts.
Group 1 on Thursday reiterated its forecast for 2004 earnings set in April, when it cut its outlook to a range of $2.95 per share to $3.15 per share, down about 8 percent from its previous range of $3.20 per share to $3.40 per share.
Analysts expect Group 1 to earn between $2.87 per share and $2.97 per share for 2004, with an average estimate of $2.91, according to Reuters Estimates.
Group 1 revenue totaled $1.31 billion, up from $1.15 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts had expected second-quarter revenues of $1.26 billion, according to forecasts from two analysts compiled by Reuters Estimates.
Group 1 is fifth on the Automotive News ranking of top dealer groups in the United States in 2003 with 162,692 total vehicles sold.
