Toronto, Ontario — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker, the Boyd Group reports pandemic-affected Q3 earnings, citing Canada’s “slower economic reopening”; AutoCanada reports record-breaking numbers for the third quarter and Mercedes opens its vehicle tech up to Aston Martin in exchange for additional shares.
Pushing through
Last week, Winnipeg, Man.-based Boyd Group Services reported its third-quarter financial results, noting that the results continue to be impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic—especially in Canada.
Sales for the Boyd Group decreased by 10.3 percent to $508.3 million, compared to $567 million in the same period of 2019. Same-store sales decreased by 15 percent, with Canada having greater negative impacts due to “the slower economic reopening,” according to the report.
“In the third quarter of 2020, we have posted strong results, in spite of the decline in revenues caused by COVID-19,” said Tim O’Day, CEO of the Boyd Group. “Throughout the quarter, we continued to adjust our business in accordance with changes in demand for our services, increasing production capacity as demand for collision repair services rose.”
During the Q3 earnings call, the company also said it will report its financial results in U.S. dollars beginning January 2021.
“Given almost 90 percent of our revenues come from the U.S., this is an appropriate currency for reporting purposes,” wrote Boyd in an online press release.
A new five-year growth plan was also announced, which Boyd plans to achieve through same-store sales growth and adding new locations.
For more details on the Boyd Group’s Q3 financial report, click here.
Billion-dollar quarter
AutoCanada also reported its third-quarter financial results last week, marking a “record-setting quarter,” according to an online press release.
For the first time in the company’s history, AutoCanada’s revenue exceeded $1 billion in a standalone quarter, while gross profit also reached a record high of $179.4 million, according to the company.
Of the gross profit increase of $28.7 million, ahead of the prior year by 19 percent, used vehicles contributed $18.1 million; gross profit margin on used vehicles increased to 9.6 percent as compared to 4.5 percent in the prior year, said the company.
“We outperformed the Canadian new-vehicle retail market for the seventh consecutive quarter and delivered the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement in our used to new retail units ratio,” said AutoCanada via press release.
Further, AutoCanada’s net indebtedness was reduced by another $42.8 million from June 30, 2020, and by a total of $120.9 million compared to September 30, 2019.
“Looking ahead, there are still high levels of market uncertainty due to COVID-19 and other macro market conditions,” the company wrote alongside its Q3 results. “We have taken our learnings from this situation to re-evaluate and adapt our business to drive industry-leading performance. We are confident that we will be a top decile performer in any environment. With our complete business model, our strong balance sheet and our team, we are well-positioned to emerge from this pandemic even stronger.”
For more information on AutoCanada’s Q3 results, click here.
Stakes raised
Mercedes-Benz will see its stake in Aston Martin increase amid an exchange that allows the former access to new Mercedes technologies.
Under the agreement, which the two companies announced in early November, Mercedes will own up to 20 percent of Aston Martin, compared to its current share of 2.6 percent. Additional shares will be issued in stages over the next three years, Mercedes parent company Daimler said in a press release, though Mercedes said it has no intention of increasing its stake beyond 20 percent.
In exchange for the shares, Aston will get access to a vaster variety of Mercedes components, including internal combustion engines, hybrid and all-electric powertrains, as well as electric architectures, vehicle components and systems to be used in all product launches to 2027, according to Aston Martin.
