Toronto, Ontario — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker, Uni-Select reveals its second-quarter financial results and both Boyd Group Services and AutoCanada will follow suit in August. In other news, the average vehicle age age has increased by 12 years in United States, according to a recent report.
Better than expected
Uni-Select reported its second-quarter financial results on July 29, with “better than expected” results for the quarter.
The company reported sales of $302.5 million, down 33.7 percent, reflecting a lower demand as a direct effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are pleased with our second quarter results as they were better than we expected given the difficult operating environment caused by the pandemic,” said Brent Windom, president and Chief Executive Officer of Uni-Select Inc. “The execution of our cash preservation plan allowed us to successfully maximize our liquidity and financial flexibility.”
The company says its Implementation of the Continuous Improvement Plan (“CIP”), to further improve productivity and efficiency of all three businesses, resulted in annualized savings of $14.0 million realized during the quarter.
“We are confident in the sustainability of our business and our ability to maintain our market position in this challenging period. At this stage, we anticipate a faster recovery from the auto parts aftermarket and a slower recovery in the refinish market. While we are encouraged by month-over-month improvements, market conditions remain volatile. We have the financial flexibility to execute our business plan and will prioritize debt reduction in our capital allocation strategy,” concluded Windom.
When life gives you lemons…
The average vehicle age has climbed to nearly a dozen years in the United States, according to a report by the IHS Markit consulting firm.
According to Todd Campau, associate director of aftermarket solutions for IHS Markit, the rise in age is part of a long-term trend of people holding on to their cars, trucks and SUVs longer, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to add even more pressure to this phenomenon, possibly pushing the average up four to six months compared with a more modest increase in recent years.
He said the virus has created a “perfect storm” for this trend to continue.
“IHS Markit anticipates significant upward pressure on average age in 2020 and subsequent years as consumers work toward a new normal both economically and in how they use their personal vehicles in a post-COVID-19 era,” Campau said in a news release.
The average vehicle age of 11.9 years in 2020—12.4 for cars and 11.6 for light trucks—represents a 24 percent increase over the age in 2002, when the average was 9.6. In 2009, the year the Great Recession ended, it was 10.3 years, according to the IHS Markit data.
Second-quarter session
Boyd Group Services will release its fiscal 2020 second quarter results on August 12, 2020 before the markets open, and will hold a call at 10 a.m. ET to review results.
The call will be hosted by Tim O’Day, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pat Pathipati, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Brock Bulbuck, Executive Chair.
All interested parties are invited to participate. A taped replay will also be available until Aug. 19 at 11:59 p.m.
Interested parties may call 416-849-0833 or 1-855-859-2056 to attend the conference call.
AutoCanada call
AutoCanada will reveal its second-quarter financial results for 2020 next Wednesday, August 12 via a webcast and conference call.
Scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m. MT), the conference call will include prepared remarks from AutoCanada’s management team. After the prepared remarks, the Company will accept questions from analysts and institutional investors.
