HOUSTON, Aug. 2,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
(NYSE: GPI) ("Group 1" or the "Company"), an international,
Fortune 300 automotive retailer with 202 dealerships located in the
U.S. and U.K., today announced its board of directors increased the
Company's common stock repurchase authorization by $153.7 million to $250.0
million, and also declared a quarterly dividend.
Group 1's President and Chief Executive Officer Daryl Kenningham stated, "Once again our strong
cash flow and balance sheet enable the Company to deploy capital
and reward stockholders. Continuing to grow our business
while also returning capital to our stockholders remain our top
capital allocation priorities."
- Share Repurchases & Authorization Increase
The
Company announced that its board of directors increased the
Company's common stock share repurchase authorization by
$153.7 million to $250.0 million. The Company also updated
its year-to-date repurchase activity of 322,492 shares of common
stock at an average price of $204.90 for a total
of $66.1 million, which represents approximately 2.3 percent
of Group 1's outstanding common shares at January 1, 2023. Purchases may be made from
time to time, based on market conditions, legal requirements, and
other corporate considerations, in the open market or in privately
negotiated transactions. The Company expects that any
repurchase of shares will be funded by cash from operations.
Repurchased shares will be held in treasury.
- Quarterly Dividend
Group 1's board of directors
also declared a $0.45 dividend
per share that will be payable on September
15, 2023, to stockholders of record as of September 1, 2023. The dividend is
consistent with the Company's previously announced increase of 20%
in its annualized dividend rate from $1.50 per share in 2022 to $1.80 per share in 2023.
- Corporate Development
During the third quarter of
2023, the Company disposed of one Volkswagen dealership and one
Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram dealership in Maine and one Nissan dealership in
Alabama. These dealerships
generated approximately $85 million
in annual revenues.
Year-to-date, the Company has acquired five
dealerships, which are expected to generate approximately
$1 billion in annual revenues, and
disposed of seven dealerships and terminated one franchise, which
generated approximately $255 million in annual
revenues.
ABOUT GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE, INC.
Group 1 owns
and operates 202 automotive dealerships,
271 franchises, and 42 collision centers in
the United States and the
United Kingdom that offer
35 brands of automobiles. Through its dealerships and
omni-channel platform, the Company sells new and used cars and
light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service and
insurance contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair
services; and sells vehicle parts.
Group 1 discloses
additional information about the Company, its business, and its
results of operations at www.group1corp.com,
www.group1auto.com, www.group1collision.com, www.acceleride.com,
www.facebook.com/group1auto, and
www.twitter.com/group1auto.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, which are statements related to future, not past, events
and are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding
our business, the economy and other future conditions. In this
context, the forward-looking statements often include statements
regarding our strategic investments, goals, plans, projections and
guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations
and business strategy, including the annualized revenues of
recently completed acquisitions or dispositions and other benefits
of such currently anticipated or recently completed acquisitions or
dispositions. These forward-looking statements often contain words
such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"seeks," "should," "foresee," "may" or "will" and similar
expressions. While management believes that these forward-looking
statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no
assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that
we anticipate. Any such forward-looking statements are not
assurances of future performance and involve risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those set forth in the statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, among other things, (a) general economic and
business conditions, (b) the level of manufacturer incentives, (c)
the future regulatory environment, (d) our ability to obtain an
inventory of desirable new and used vehicles, (e) our relationship
with our automobile manufacturers and the willingness of
manufacturers to approve future acquisitions, (f) our cost of
financing and the availability of credit for consumers, (g) our
ability to complete acquisitions and dispositions and the risks
associated therewith, (h) foreign exchange controls and currency
fluctuations, (i) the impacts of COVID-19 and the armed conflict in
Ukraine on our business and the supply chains upon which our
business is dependent, (j) the impacts of continued inflation and
any potential global recession, (k) our ability to maintain
sufficient liquidity to operate, (l) the risk that proposed
transactions will not be consummated in a timely manner, and (m)
our ability to successfully integrate recent and future
acquisitions. For additional information regarding known material
factors that could cause our actual results to differ from our
projected results, please see our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor contacts:
Terry
Bratton
Manager, Investor Relations
Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
ir@group1auto.com
Media contacts:
Pete
DeLongchamps
Senior Vice President, Manufacturer Relations, Financial Services
and Public Affairs
Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
pdelongchamps@group1auto.com
or
Clint Woods
Pierpont Communications, Inc.
713-627-2223
cwoods@piercom.com
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SOURCE Group 1 Automotive, Inc.