Group 1 Automotive Sees Q2 Earnings Better Than Estimates On Strong Vehicle Margins, Market Recovery

(RTTNews) - Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI) on Thursday said it expects earnings per share in the second quarter to be in the range of $10.20 and $10.70 per share helped by strong vehicle margins and reviving service business in the U.S, recovery of the U.K. market, along with company's ongoing cost control measures.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $5.51 per share in the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Additionally, the automotive retailer provided estimated new and used retail unit sales in the second quarter.

New retail unit sales are expected to increase 61% year-over-year to 42,600 and used retain unit sales to grow 49% on a year-on year-year basis to 45,000 in the second quarter.

"We believe that we are nearing our lowest point of new vehicle supply with approximately 8,500 new U.S. vehicle receipts in June 2021 and a similar number expected in July. We do not have visibility beyond that. A high percentage of our incoming units are pre-sold and we were able to retail approximately 10,000 units in June in the U.S. despite inventory levels never exceeding 7,000 units at any point during the month," CEO Earl Hesterberg said.