Turner Auctions boosts earnings amid slow recovering used car market

Aug. 20 (BusinessDesk) - Turners Auctions lifted its first-half profit 6.1% amid a slow recovery in the used cars market from 2009's lows.

Net profit for the six months ended June 30 rose to $1.5 million from $1.4 million in the same six months last year.

Used car registrations fell 5% in 2009, a year Motor Industry Association chief executive Perry Kerr has described as “appallingly bad,” on top of 2008's 9% drop.

Turners says the total New Zealand used vehicle market is up 5% year-to-date on the same period last year and used Japanese imports are up 82% to 44,109 units, “signaling the market has moved back into a situation of over-supply.”

Turners' sales rose 4.1% to $36.2 million in the six months, mainly due to higher unit sales by its Turners Fleet, its importing division, strong growth in interest revenue as its finance book grew and increased insurance commissions from sales of motor vehicle breakdown insurance policies, the company says.

The finance book grew 27%, or $3.7 million, to $17.6 million at June 30 from a year earlier.

“This growth has come from a combination of strong loan sales and a reduction in the proportion of loans settled early,” it says.

The outlook is still unpredictable but there are some positive signals for key revenue lines.

“Market share for the cars business is on the rise and we are experiencing excellent growth in the trucks and heavy machinery business,” Turners said.

“The commercial business continues to enjoy the counter-cyclical aspects of an economy under pressure with many receiverships and liquidation sales taking place.”

Turns will pay a fully imputed 5 cents a share first-half dividend, the same as last year's payout. Turners' shares closed at $1.26 yesterday. They have fallen from $1.60 in April but are well up on their record low at 42 cents in late 2008.

(BusinessDesk)

BUDGET 2012:
Parliament Debate Live - Video Of Budget 2011
Keith Ng Interactive Graphic: How the Budget Breaks Down
BUDGET 2012 - FULL COVERAGE: Reports / Analysis - Press Kit - Reaction (from everybody) - Previews (from everybody) - Pre-Budget Announcements

Gordon Campbell: On the Budget’s Spreadsheet Victories

It wasn’t as if expectations were sky high, exactly. Chances are, it was always more likely that we’d be seeing Bigfoot rampage through the Beehive lock-up than catch a glimpse of a credible growth agenda from this government. More >>

Sludge Budget Report - Short The Dollar! MEMO: To international bankers FROM: C.D. Sludge Please short the dollar! It'll be good for both you and us. And you know you want to. Greexit, Eurogeddon... watch out... flight to quality and all that. Follow your instincts. The NZ Debt Management Office has been so surprised at the unprecedentedly low interest rates that it can borrow at that it has already entirely pre-funded the 2013 fiscal deficit - all $8 billion of it! More >>

Pattrick Smellie Comment: Doddling along the best we can hope forCriticising Budgets for lacking vision or imagination is like shooting fish in a barrel, but even so, this year's Budget again feels like a missed opportunity. Perhaps it's the intrusion of real world needs that means the government couldn't make better political use of the $558.8 million it expects to gather in its first partial asset sale. More >>