HOUSTON, Nov. 16,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
(NYSE: GPI) ("Group 1" or the "Company"), an
international, Fortune 300 automotive retailer with 203 dealerships
located in the U.S. and U.K., today announced its board of
directors increased the Company's common stock repurchase
authorization by $161 million to
$200 million, and also declared an
increase to the quarterly cash dividend.
"Our strong cash flow and robust balance sheet continues to
enable the Company to have significant flexibility in our capital
deployment. Since the beginning of the third quarter of 2021 we
have added $3.1 billion in acquired
revenues and repurchased approximately 21% of the Company's
outstanding share count. Our top capital allocation priorities
continue to be growing our U.S. and U.K. businesses while also
returning capital to our shareholders." said Earl J. Hesterberg, Group 1's Chief Executive
Officer.
- Share Repurchases & Authorization Increase
The
Company announced that its board of directors increased the
Company's common stock share repurchase authorization by
$161 million to $200 million. The Company also updated their
year-to-date repurchase activity of 2,825,205 shares of common
stock at an average price of $171.42
for a total of $484.3 million, which
represents 16.4 percent of Group 1's outstanding share count at
January 1, 2022. 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 Cash Dividend Increase
Group 1's board of
directors also declared a cash dividend of $0.39 per share for the third quarter of 2022.
The dividend represents an increase of 2.6%, or $0.01 per share, from the second quarter of 2022,
and will be payable on December 15,
2022, to stockholders of record as of December 1, 2022.
ABOUT GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE, INC.
Group 1 owns
and operates 203 automotive dealerships, 273
franchises, and 47 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:
Jason
Babbitt
Vice President, Treasurer
Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
jbabbitt@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.