Sonic Automotive Q3 Total Revenue Rises; Updates FY Profit View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Automotive retailer Sonic Automotive Inc. (SAH) reported that its third-quarter ended September 30, 2013 total revenue increased 5.4% to $2.242 billion from last year's $2.128 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report revenues of $2.29 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

New revenue for the quarter increased $65.4 million, or 5.5%, over prior year quarter, while Pre-owned revenue increased $31.9 million, or 6.0%, over prior year quarter.

During third-quarter of 2013, the company identified a tax gain related to the extinguishment of its 5% Convertible Senior Notes in 2011 and 2012. The company said it is evaluating the effects this gain may have over prior periods. Once this evaluation is completed, it will issue an additional release reporting net income and earnings per share amounts for the quarter.

The company now expects adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $1.96-$2.03 for the full year 2013. The company stated that the update reflected a tightening of its guidance range as it feels comfortable that it will be at the upper end of its original guidance of $1.93 to $2.03. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.98 per share for fiscal 2013.

The company also announced that its Board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share payable in cash for stockholders of record on December 13, 2013. The dividend will be payable on January 15, 2014.

In a separate press release, Sonic Automotive announced two major initiatives today. Sonic has been investing in changing its dealership level culture and investing significantly in the development of a revolutionary shopping and buying customer experience for its dealerships. The roll-out of this guest experience and the sub-branding of Sonic Automotive will begin in mid-2014.

In addition, Sonic plans to augment its OEM franchised dealership operations with stand-alone pre-owned specialty retail sales locations. The pre-owned business will operate independently from the existing new and pre-owned dealership sales operations and introduce consumers to an exciting shopping and buying experience. The company stated that it will introduce its first pre-owned specialty retail store in Denver, Colorado in late 2014 with plans to expand across the country in the coming years.

The company said it has been developing a new and exciting guest experience initiative, "One Sonic-One Experience", since 2007 and is finally ready to start implementation in the second half of 2014. This experience will be new to the industry and includes several new proprietary technologies from inventory management and pricing tools to a fully developed "customer-centric" Customer Relationship Management or CRM tool.