AutoCanada Q1 profit rises 22%

AutoCanada Inc., the largest publicly traded dealer group in Canada, said Thursday its net income rose 22 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to $8.3 million Canadian ($7.6 million U.S.), driven by improved operating results in used vehicle, parts, service and collision repair departments.The company’s total revenue increased 28 percent to $364.3 million Canadian in the first quarter of 2014, up from $284.1 million in the same quarter a year ago.CEO Pat Priestner, in a statement, said the improved operating results “more than offset what we would consider to be a slightly weaker than expected quarter for new vehicle sales and new vehicle margins.”AutoCanada retailed 4,773 new vehicles during the quarter 2014, up from 4,118 during the same quarter last year.Priestner credits the company’s “exceptional dealership teams for consistently exceeding the market and the strong performance in all four departments."New vehicle revenue, including fleet, increased by 24 percent to $216.5 million, up from $174.3 million.AutoCanada, of Edmonton, Alberta, operates 34 franchised dealerships in seven provinces. The company said that same store-revenue increased 13 percent to $313 million, up from $277 million for the same quarter last year.AutoCanada went public in 2006. It sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles.