Penske Automotive predicts record Q2 results

DETROIT — Penske Automotive Group expects record second-quarter results with income from continuing operations topping more than $325 million, the company said Thursday as it announced preliminary results for the quarter ending June 30.

The nation’s second-largest auto retailer based in the U.S. last year said it also expects record earnings before taxes of more than $450 million in the second quarter and record earnings per share higher than $4 — soaring over results that were dampened a year earlier by the coronavirus pandemic and also surpassing second-quarter 2019 results.

Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon said income from continuing operations, earnings per share and earnings before taxes are predicted to be records for any quarter.

“Our business produced a record second quarter driven by strength across all areas of our business,” Penske CEO Roger Penske said in a statement. “Strong volume and vehicle margins, a reopening of the U.K. market, a growing Class 8 commercial truck market, record performance at Penske Transportation Solutions and continuing cost controls all contributed to the record performance.” 

Shares of Penske were trading about 1 percent higher in pre-market trading Thursday to about $80.

The company said it would officially release second-quarter results on July 28.

Penske said the preliminary results also include a charge of nearly $13 million related to refinancing $500 million of senior subordinated notes.

The results compare to a tough second quarter of 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, when many dealership showrooms were shuttered for weeks. In second quarter 2020, Penske’s net income tumbled 62 percent to $44.8 million.

Penske, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., ranks No. 2 on Automotive News’ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 178,437 new vehicles in 2020. But Lithia Motors Inc. — the third-largest group in the country in 2020 — surpassed Penske to become the second-largest retailer going forward with its April acquisition of the Suburban Collection.