Lithia Motors Profit Rises On Asset Sales

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Lithia Motors Inc., which operates franchise auto dealerships, said Wednesday that it rebounded to a profit in the first quarter but revenue plunged 30 percent as fewer people bought new and used cars.

Lithia said it earned $1.3 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.2 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company had a net benefit from special items of $1.5 million. The items included gains on early debt-retirement and asset sales, partly offset by charges to write down assets.

Excluding those items, the gain from continuing operations was about $200,000, or a penny per share, flat with a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the company to lose a penny per share.

Revenue fell to $398 million from $567 million a year ago, and well below analysts' forecast of $480.6 million.

Same-store sales, or sales from stores open at least a year, fell 39.9 percent for new vehicles and 13 percent for used ones. Same-store sales of parts and service declined 6.3 percent from a year earlier.

Chairman and Chief Executive Sid DeBoer said the company was continuing to carry out a restructuring plan announced last June and had shed 20 of the 31 locations it identified for disposal. Lithia has 91 stores in 13 states.

Before the results were released, shares jumped 48 cents, or 17.1 percent, to $3.29. In extended trading, they rose a penny.