PAG Penske Automotive Group Inc

Q4 Revenue Increases 6% to $7.7 Billion, a Quarterly Record

Q4 Same-Store Retail Automotive Service and Parts Revenue up 7% and Related Gross Profit up 9%

Q4 Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses as a Percent of Gross Profit Decreases 70 bps to 70.3%

Q4 Earnings Before Taxes Increases 23% to $315.2 Million; Earnings Per Share Increases 25% to $3.54

Q4 Earnings Before Taxes Increases 6% to $315.2 Million When Compared to Q4 Adjusted Earnings Before Taxes of $296.5 Million in Prior Year Period

Q4 Earnings Per Share Increases 3% to $3.54 When Compared to Q4 Adjusted Earnings Per Share of $3.45 in Prior Year Period

Board of Directors Declares the 17th Consecutive Increase in the Quarterly Dividend to $1.22 Per Share

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: PAG), a diversified international transportation services company and one of the world's premier automotive and commercial truck retailers, today announced fourth quarter and twelve-month 2024 results. For the fourth quarter, net income attributable to common stockholders was $236.4 million compared to $190.7 million in the prior year period, and related earnings per share was $3.54 compared to $2.84 in the prior year period. Fourth quarter 2023 results include a goodwill impairment charge of $40.7 million (before and after tax), representing $0.61 per share. Excluding the goodwill impairment charge, adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders during the fourth quarter of 2023 was $231.4 million and related adjusted earnings per share was $3.45. For the fourth quarter of 2024, net income attributable to common shareholders increased 2% and related earnings per share increased 3% when compared to the adjusted numbers in the prior year period. Foreign currency exchange positively impacted revenue by $57.0 million, net income attributable to common stockholders by $1.0 million, and earnings per share by $0.01.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Operating Highlights Compared to Fourth Quarter 2023

• New and Used Retail Automotive Units Delivered – increased 3%
• Total Revenue – increased 6% to $7.7 billion, a quarterly record
• Retail Automotive Same-Store Revenue – increased 5%
  • New Vehicle +7%; Used Vehicle +1%; Finance & Insurance -3%; Service & Parts +7%
• Retail Automotive Service and Parts Gross Margin – increased 30 bps
• SG&A as a Percentage of Gross Profit – 70.3%; down 70 bps compared to fourth quarter of 2023 and down 90 bps sequentially from third quarter of 2024

Commenting on the Company's fourth quarter financial results, Chair Roger Penske said, "I am pleased with our financial performance during the fourth quarter. Revenue increased 6% to $7.7 billion, a quarterly record. New and used automotive gross profit per unit retailed remained strong, including a $74 per unit sequential increase in new vehicle gross profit per unit retailed when compared to the third quarter of 2024, and same-store service and parts revenue and gross profit increased 7% and 9%, respectively. In addition, I am particularly pleased with our continued effort to control costs as selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of gross profit decreased 70 basis points when compared to the fourth quarter last year and 90 basis points sequentially when compared to the third quarter of 2024."

Full Year 2024 Operating Highlights Compared to Full Year 2023

• New and Used Retail Automotive Units Delivered – increased 1%
• Total Revenue – increased 3% to $30.5 billion
• Retail Automotive Service and Parts Revenue – increased 11% to over $3 billion, an all-time record
• Retail Automotive Same-Store Revenue – flat
  • New Vehicle +2%; Used Vehicle -5%; Finance & Insurance -4%; Service & Parts +6%

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, revenue increased 3% to $30.5 billion. Net income attributable to common stockholders was $918.9 million compared to $1.05 billion in the prior year period, and related earnings per share was $13.74 compared to $15.50 in the prior year period. Excluding the goodwill impairment charge in 2023 referenced above, adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders in 2023 was $1.09 billion and related earnings per share was $16.10. Foreign currency exchange positively impacted revenue by $223.2 million, net income attributable to common stockholders by $3.7 million, and earnings per share by $0.06.

Retail Automotive Dealerships

For the three months ended December 31, 2024, total new units delivered increased 11% and used units delivered decreased 6%. Gross profit per new vehicle retailed improved $74 sequentially from the third quarter of 2024.

During 2024, the Company transitioned its U.K. based CarShop locations to Sytner Select dealerships to be more closely aligned with existing franchised dealerships and focus on retailing premium branded vehicles to better leverage inventory and cost and improve gross margins, among other benefits. As a result, the Sytner Select dealerships sell fewer units per location, which contributed to the 6% decline in used vehicles retailed during the fourth quarter. However, excluding the performance of the U.K. Sytner Select dealerships in both periods, used vehicles retailed increased 8%. Same-store used retail units decreased 6% but increased 3% when excluding the U.K. Sytner Select dealerships. Total retail automotive revenue increased 9% to $6.7 billion and increased 5% on a same-store basis. Service and parts revenue increased 13% to a fourth quarter record of $770.5 million and increased 7% on a same-store basis. Total retail automotive gross profit increased 7% to $1.1 billion.

Retail Commercial Truck Dealerships

As of December 31, 2024, Premier Truck Group operated 45 North American retail commercial truck locations. For the three months ended December 31, 2024, retail unit sales were 4,432, revenue was $773.7 million and earnings before taxes was $44.8 million which compares to unit sales of 5,409, revenue of $904.8 million and earnings before taxes of $51.3 million in the prior year period. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, revenue was $3.5 billion compared to $3.7 billion in the same period last year. Earnings before taxes was $203.6 million compared to $225.0 million in the same period in 2023.

Penske Transportation Solutions Investment

Penske Transportation Solutions ("PTS") is a leading provider of full-service truck leasing, truck rental, contract maintenance, and logistics services. PTS operates a managed fleet with over 435,000 trucks, tractors, and trailers under lease, rental and/or maintenance contracts. Penske Automotive Group has a 28.9% ownership interest in PTS and accounts for its ownership interest using the equity method of accounting. For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the Company recorded $52.3 million and $198.0 million in earnings from PTS compared to $51.2 million and $289.5 million for the prior year periods.

Corporate Development, Dividend, Liquidity, and Leverage

During the fourth quarter, we completed the acquisition of our third Porsche dealership in Melbourne, Australia representing approximately $130 million in estimated annualized revenue. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, Penske Automotive Group completed acquisitions representing approximately $2.1 billion in estimated annualized revenue and completed strategic divestitures representing approximately $650 million in estimated annualized revenue. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 0.4 million shares of common stock for approximately $58.7 million under our securities repurchase program and also acquired 0.1 million shares of our common stock for $18.8 million from employees in connection with a net share settlement feature of employee equity awards. The average price of shares of common stock repurchased during 2024 was $149.69. As of December 31, 2024, $156.8 million remained available under the Company's existing repurchase authority. During 2024, the Company returned $351.9 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

The Company's Board of Directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $1.22 per share, representing an increase of 2.5%, or $0.03 per share. This represents the Company's 17th consecutive quarterly increase. The dividend is payable March 6, 2025, to shareholders of record as of February 24, 2025.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had approximately $1.9 billion in liquidity, including $72 million in cash and $1.8 billion of availability under its U.S. and international credit agreements. The Company's leverage ratio at December 31, 2024 was 1.2x.

Conference Call

Penske Automotive Group will host a conference call discussing financial results relating to the fourth quarter of 2024 on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. To listen to the conference call, participants must dial (800) 715-9871 [International, please dial (646) 307-1963] using conference ID 9658297. The call will also be simultaneously broadcast over the Internet, available through the Investors section of the Penske Automotive Group website. Additionally, an investor presentation relating to the fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results has been posted to the Investors section of the Company's website. To access the presentation or to listen to the Company's webcast, please refer to www.penskeautomotive.com. 

About Penske Automotive

Penske Automotive Group, Inc., (NYSE: PAG) headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is a diversified international transportation services company and one of the world's premier automotive and commercial truck retailers. PAG operates dealerships in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Australia and is one of the largest retailers of commercial trucks in North America for Freightliner. PAG also distributes and retails commercial vehicles, diesel and gas engines, power systems, and related parts and services principally in Australia and New Zealand. PAG employs over 28,900 people worldwide. Additionally, PAG owns 28.9% of Penske Transportation Solutions ("PTS"), a business that employs over 44,500 people worldwide, manages one of the largest, most comprehensive and modern trucking fleets in North America with over 435,000 trucks, tractors, and trailers under lease, rental, and/or maintenance contracts and provides innovative transportation, supply chain, and technology solutions to its customers. PAG is a member of the S&P Mid Cap 400, Fortune 500, Russell 1000, and Russell 3000 indexes. For additional information, visit the Company's website at www.penskeautomotive.com. 

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules such as adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted income before taxes, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted EBITDA, and leverage ratio. The Company has reconciled these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the release. The Company believes that these widely accepted measures of operating profitability improve the transparency of the Company's disclosures and provide a meaningful presentation of the Company's results from its core business operations excluding the impact of items not related to the Company's ongoing core business operations and improve the period-to-period comparability of the Company's results from its core business operations. These non-GAAP financial measures are not substitutes for GAAP financial results and should only be considered in conjunction with the Company's financial information that is presented in accordance with GAAP.

Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release may involve forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements regarding Penske Automotive Group, Inc.'s financial performance, expectations, and future plans. Actual results may vary materially because of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, those related to macro-economic, geo-political and industry conditions and events, including their impact on sales of new and used vehicles, service and parts, and repair and maintenance services, the availability of consumer credit, changes in consumer demand, consumer confidence levels, fuel prices, demand for trucks to move freight with respect to Penske Transportation Solutions (PTS) and Premier Truck Group (PTG) and other freight metrics such as spot rates or miles driven, personal discretionary spending levels, interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, and unemployment rates; our ability to obtain vehicles and parts from our manufacturers, especially in light of supply chain disruptions due to natural disasters, any shortages of vehicle components, international conflicts, challenges in sourcing labor or labor strikes, work stoppages, or other disruptions; the control our manufacturer partners can exert over our operations and our reliance on them for various aspects of our business; changes in the retail model either from direct sales by manufacturers, a transition to an agency model of sales, sales by online competitors, or from the expansion of electric vehicles; disruptions to the security and availability of our information technology systems and those of our third party providers, which systems are increasingly threatened by ransomware and other cyber attacks, the effects of a pandemic on the global economy, including our ability to react effectively to changing business conditions in light of any pandemic; changes or increases in tariffs or trade disputes; the rate of inflation, including its impact on vehicle affordability; changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates; our ability to consummate, integrate, and realize returns on our acquisitions; with respect to PTS, changes in the financial health of its customers, labor strikes or work stoppages by its employees, a reduction in PTS' asset utilization rates, continued availability from truck manufacturers and suppliers of vehicles and parts for its fleet, including with respect to the effect of various government mandates concerning the electrification of its vehicle fleet, changes in values of used trucks which affects PTS' profitability on truck sales and regulatory risks and related compliance costs, our ability to realize returns on our significant capital investments in new and upgraded dealership facilities; our ability to navigate a rapidly changing automotive and truck landscape; our ability to respond to new or enhanced regulations in both our domestic and international markets relating to dealerships and vehicles sales, including those related to the sales process, emissions standards or electrification, as well as changes in consumer sentiment relating to commercial truck sales that may hinder our or PTS' ability to maintain, acquire, sell, or operate trucks; the success of our distribution of commercial vehicles, engines, and power systems; natural disasters; recall initiatives or other disruptions that interrupt the supply of vehicles or parts to us; the outcome of legal and administrative matters, and other factors over which management has limited control. These forward-looking statements should be evaluated together with additional information about Penske Automotive Group's business, markets, conditions, risks, and other uncertainties, which could affect Penske Automotive Group's future performance. The risks and uncertainties discussed above are not exhaustive and additional risk and uncertainties are addressed in Penske Automotive Group's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, its Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2024, June 30, 2024, and September 30, 2024, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release speaks only as of its date, and Penske Automotive Group disclaims any duty to update the information herein.

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