Larry H. Miller stores push Asbury to record Q2 net income

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. generated record net income of $201.4 million during the second quarter, bolstered by dozens of new Larry H. Miller Dealerships locations it purchased at the end of 2021.

That translated to a net income gain of 32 percent compared with the second quarter of last year, Asbury reported Thursday. Asbury's revenue rose 53 percent to $3.95 billion.

Asbury CEO David Hult said Asbury also set records with $352.1 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and $10.04 in adjusted earnings per share. However, Asbury's same-store revenue fell 7.2 percent, and same-store gross profit stood essentially unchanged for the quarter.

"With two full quarters with our expanded dealership portfolio, our incredible team across the nation delivered a sequential increase in adjusted EBITDA of 5 percent and adjusted EPS of 8 percent over the first quarter of 2022," Hult said in a statement Thursday.

Asbury Automotive Group bought 61 Larry H. Miller franchised and used-only stores and finance and insurance products provider Total Care Auto as part of a $3.2 billion deal last December. At the time, Larry H. Miller was ranked No. 8 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with 61,097 new vehicles retailed in 2020. Asbury, of Duluth, Ga., was No. 6 on the list at that time and moved to No. 5 on Automotive News' latest list, with retail sales of 109,910 new vehicles in 2021.

Asbury sold seven Toyota and Lexus stores in the first half of the year to comply with automaker store-count limits. It held 148 new-vehicle dealerships consisting of 198 franchises as of Thursday.

Q2 revenue: $3.95 billion, up 53 percent from a year earlier

Q2 net income: $201.4 million, up 32 percent

Q2 adjusted net income: $222.9 million, up 47 percent

Q2 vehicle sales: 38,697 new vehicles, up 22 percent; 39,848 used vehicles, up 48 percent

Q2 same-store vehicle sales: 21,594 new vehicles, down 31 percent; 25,891 used vehicles, down 2.3 percent

Records: Net income, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EPS