BLOOMFIELD HILLS—Penske Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: PAG) reported record third quarter and nine-month 2021 results, including a 43.9 percent increase in income from contributing operations and a 45.3 percent in income per share.
Net income for the quarter was $356.3 million or $4.47 a share, up from $247.5 million or $3.07 a share a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter was $6.5 billion, up from $6 billion a year earlier.
Net income for the nine months was $879.8 million or $10.92 a share, up from $343.9 million or $4.27 a share a year earlier. Revenue for the nine months was $19.26 billion, up from $14.63 billion a year earlier.
“Our business produced an all-time record third quarter driven by strength across all areas of our business, including continued strong vehicle margins, improving service and parts operations, a growing Class 8 commercial truck market, record performance at Penske Transportation Solutions, and continuing cost controls, which contributed to a 230 basis point improvement in selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of gross profit,” said chair and CEO Roger Penske. “During the quarter, we reduced long-term non-vehicle debt by $245.4 million to $1.4 billion, improved our leverage ratio to 0.9 to 1 on a trailing twelve-month basis, and reduced debt to total capitalization to 27%. Since the end of 2019, we have reduced non-vehicle long-term debt by more than $900 million. Despite the ongoing supply-chain challenges which continue to impact the availability of new vehicles in both the automotive and commercial truck markets, our performance in the quarter demonstrates the strength of the automotive and commercial truck retail models and the benefits from our diversification.”
Retail automotive revenue for the quarter rose 7.2 percent from a year earlier to $5.6 billion. Retail automotive gross profit was up 19 percent to $1 billion. Retail commercial truck dealership earnings before taxes was $48.3 million, up 106.4 percent from $23.4 million a year earlier. The company boosted its quarterly dividend to 46 cents a share, payable Dec. 1 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 10.
To listen to a replay of a conference call discussing these results, visit www.penskeautomotive.com.
Penske Automotive Group operates dealerships in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan. The company also distributes and retails commercial vehicles, diesel and gas engines, power systems, and related parts and services principally in Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, PAG owns 28.9% of Penske Transportation Solutions, a business that manages a fleet of over 350,000 vehicles providing transportation, supply chain, and technology services to North American fleets.