News: $LAD Lithia Motors Inc (LAD) Q2 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

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In case you are interested LAD - Lithia Motors Inc (LAD) Q2 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

News: $LAD Lithia Reports Highest Second Quarter Net Income in Company History

Declares Dividend of $0.31 Per Share for Second Quarter Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) today reported second quarter 2020 revenue of $2.8 billion. Second quarter 2020 net income per diluted share was $3.38, a 29% increase from $2.63 per diluted share reported in the second quarter o...

Read the whole news LAD - Lithia Reports Highest Second Quarter Net Income in Company History

News: $LAD Lithia Reports Record Third Quarter 2019 Results and Solid Same Store Growth in All Business Lines

Declares Dividend of $0.30 Per Share for Third Quarter Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) today reported the highest third quarter revenue in company history. Third quarter 2019 revenue increased 8% to a record $3.3 billion from $3.1 billion in the third quarter of 2018. Third qua...

In case you are interested LAD - Lithia Reports Record Third Quarter 2019 Results and Solid Same Store Growth in All Business Lines

News: $LAD Lithia Reports Record First Quarter 2019 Results; Increases Earnings Per Share 17 %

Declares Dividend of $0.30 Per Share for First Quarter Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) today reported the highest first quarter revenue and earnings per share in company history. First quarter 2019 revenue increased 7% to a record $2.8 billion from $2.7 billion in the first quarte...

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Lithia Reports Adjusted EPS of $1.55 for First Quarter 2016
Lithia Increases Dividend to $0.25 per Share for First Quarter
Marketwired Lithia Motors
April 21, 2016 6:59 AM
????
MEDFORD, OR--(Marketwired - Apr 21, 2016) - Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) reported the highest first quarter adjusted net income in company history and increased adjusted net income 9% for the first quarter 2016 over the prior year period. 2016 first quarter adjusted net income was $40.4 million, or $1.55 per diluted share, compared to 2015 first quarter adjusted net income of $36.9 million, or $1.39 per diluted share.

Unadjusted net income for the first quarter 2016 was $40.3 million, or $1.55 per diluted share, compared to $40.7 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2015. As shown in the attached non-GAAP reconciliation tables, the 2016 first quarter adjusted results exclude a non-core benefit related to an equity investment and the gain on the sale of a store offset by a legal reserve adjustment. These non-core items result in no change to earnings per share. The 2015 first quarter adjusted results exclude a $0.14 non-core net benefit from an equity investment and the gain on the sale of a store.

First quarter 2016 revenue increased $193.7 million, or 11%, to $2.0 billion from $1.8 billion for the first quarter 2015.

First Quarter-over-Quarter Operating Highlights:

Total same store sales increased 8%
New vehicle same store sales increased 6%
Used vehicle retail same store sales increased 12%
Service, body and parts same store sales increased 10%
Same store F&I per unit increased $111 to $1,292
Adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit was 71.1%

"Our performance in the first quarter was solid," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "We grew adjusted earnings per share 12%, drove double digit increases in both used retail vehicle and service, body and parts sales and set a record in F&I per unit. We also continued to increase revenue and profitability in our DCH stores. While national new vehicle sales growth is moderating, we have significant opportunity to drive earnings growth through focus on growing vehicle market share and retaining service customers longer, improving store performance and targeting strategic acquisitions."

Chris Holzshu, SVP and CFO, said, "Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 71.1% in the first quarter of 2016, an improvement of 20 basis points over the first quarter of 2015. In the first quarter, incremental throughput, or the percentage of additional same store gross profit dollars that we retain after deducting incremental selling costs on a same store basis, was estimated at 37%. Our stores generated strong increases in gross profit and will continue to focus on controlling advertising and personnel cost to improve operating leverage."

Balance Sheet Update
We ended the first quarter with $22 million in cash and $149 million in availability under our credit facilities. Additionally, approximately $200 million of our operating real estate is currently unfinanced, which we estimate could provide an additional $150 million in available liquidity, for total potential liquidity of $321 million.

Dividend Payment and Share Repurchase
Our Board of Directors has approved a 25% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share related to first quarter 2016 financial results. We expect to pay the dividend May 27, 2016 to shareholders of record on May 13, 2016.

Since March 31, 2016 we have repurchased approximately 157,500 shares at a weighted average price of $80.90 per share. Year to date, we have repurchased approximately 759,000 shares at a weighted average price of $79.80. Under our existing $250 million share repurchase authorization, approximately $236 million remains available.

2016 Outlook
We project 2016 second quarter earnings of $1.86 to $1.90 per diluted share and 2016 full year earnings of $7.30 to $7.50 per diluted share. Both projections are based on the following annual assumptions:

Total revenues of $8.5 to $8.6 billion
New vehicle sales increasing 4.5%
New vehicle gross margin of 5.8% to 6.0%
Used vehicle sales increasing 9.5%
Used vehicle gross margin of 11.8% to 12.0%
Service body and parts sales increasing 7.5%
Service body and parts gross margin of 48.8% to 49.0%
Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,270 to $1,290 per unit
Tax rate of 39.5%
Average diluted shares outstanding of 25.9 million

These projections exclude the impact of future acquisitions, dispositions and non-core items. Actual results may be affected by items described under Forward-Looking Statements below.

First Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Updated Presentation
The first quarter conference call may be accessed at 10:00 a.m. ET today by telephone at 877-407-8029. An updated presentation highlighting the first quarter results has been added to www.lithiainvestorrelations.com.

To listen live on our website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com and click on webcasts.

About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Lithia sells 31 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles at 138 stores in 15 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
www.lithiacareers.com

Lithia Motors on Facebook
www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors

Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "Safe-Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding our goals, plans, projections and guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, pending and potential future acquisitions and business strategy, and often contain words such as "project," "outlook," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "may," "seek," "would," "should," "likely," "goal," "strategy," "future," "maintain," "continue," "remain," "target" or "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements regarding:

Expected operating results, such as improved store efficiency and performance; generating 2016 second quarter earnings per share of $1.86 to $1.90 per diluted share and 2016 full year earnings of $7.30 to $7.50 per diluted share and all projections set forth under the headings "2016 Outlook";
Anticipated ability to improve store performance;
Anticipated additions of dealership locations to our portfolio in the future; and
Anticipated availability of liquidity from our credit facility and unfinanced operating real estate.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated or projected results include, without limitation, future economic and financial conditions (both nationally and locally), changes in customer demand, our relationship with, and the financial and operational stability of, vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, risks associated with our indebtedness (including available borrowing capacity, compliance with financial covenants and ability to refinance or repay indebtedness on favorable terms), government regulations, legislation and others set forth throughout Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. We urge you to carefully consider this information and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update our forward-looking statements, including our earnings outlook, which are made as of the date of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the attached financial tables contain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of revenues and gross profit, adjusted operating margin, adjusted operating profit as a percentage of gross profit, and adjusted pre-tax margin. Non-GAAP measures do not have definitions under GAAP and may be defined differently by and not comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, we review any non-GAAP financial measures in connection with a review of the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We caution you not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP measures, but also to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We present cash flows from operations in the attached tables, adjusted to include the change in non-trade floor plan debt to improve the visibility of cash flows related to vehicle financing. As required by SEC rules, we have reconciled these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the attachments to this release. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures we present improve the transparency of our disclosures; provide a meaningful presentation of our results from core business operations, because they exclude items not related to core business operations and other non-cash items; and improve the period-to-period comparability of our results from core business operations. These presentations should not be considered an alternative to GAAP measures.



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Three months ended
March 31, Increase %
Increase
2016 2015 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 1,096,055 $ 1,007,816 $ 88,239 8.8 %
Used vehicle retail 532,726 462,931 69,795 15.1
Used vehicle wholesale 65,146 62,208 2,938 4.7
Finance and insurance 77,638 64,604 13,034 20.2
Service, body and parts 196,675 173,475 23,200 13.4
Fleet and other 14,621 18,144 (3,523 ) (19.4 )
Total revenues 1,982,861 1,789,178 193,683 10.8
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 1,029,289 946,042 83,247 8.8
Used vehicle retail 468,449 403,489 64,960 16.1
Used vehicle wholesale 63,316 60,047 3,269 5.4
Service, body and parts 100,556 89,036 11,520 12.9
Fleet and other 14,069 17,189 (3,120 ) (18.2 )
Total cost of sales 1,675,679 1,515,803 159,876 10.5
Gross profit 307,182 273,375 33,807 12.4
Asset impairments 3,498 4,130 (632 ) NM
SG&A expense 219,106 191,618 27,488 14.3
Depreciation and amortization 11,663 9,726 1,937 19.9
Income from operations 72,915 67,901 5,014 7.4
Floor plan interest expense (5,909 ) (4,649 ) 1,260 27.1
Other interest expense (5,459 ) (4,828 ) 631 13.1
Other expense, net (1,526 ) (368 ) 1,158 NM
Income before income taxes 60,021 58,056 1,965 3.4
Income tax expense (19,751 ) (17,403 ) 2,348 13.5
Income tax rate 32.9 % 30.0 %
Net income $ 40,270 $ 40,653 $ (383 ) (0.9 )%

Diluted net income per share:
Net income per share $ 1.55 $ 1.53 $ 0.02 1.3 %

Diluted shares outstanding 25,973 26,519 (546 ) (2.1 )%

NM - not meaningful



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Three months ended
March 31, Increase %
Increase
2016 2015 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.1 % 6.1 % -- bps
Used vehicle retail 12.1 12.8 (70 )
Used vehicle wholesale 2.8 3.5 (70 )
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 --
Service, body and parts 48.9 48.7 20
Fleet and other 3.8 5.3 (150 )
Gross profit margin 15.5 15.3 20

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 32,749 30,623 2,126 6.9 %
Used vehicle retail 27,431 24,204 3,227 13.3
Total retail units sold 60,180 54,827 5,353 9.8
Used vehicle wholesale 9,513 9,144 369 4.0

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 33,468 $ 32,910 $ 558 1.7 %
Used vehicle retail 19,421 19,126 295 1.5
Used vehicle wholesale 6,848 6,803 45 0.7

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,039 $ 2,017 $ 22 1.1 %
Used vehicle retail 2,343 2,456 (113 ) (4.6 )
Used vehicle wholesale 192 236 (44 ) (18.6 )
Finance and insurance 1,290 1,178 112 9.5
Total vehicle(1) 3,498 3,429 69 2.0

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 55.3 % 56.3 %
Used vehicle retail 26.9 25.9
Used vehicle wholesale 3.3 3.5
Finance and insurance, net 3.9 3.6
Service, body and parts 9.9 9.7
Fleet and other 0.7 1.0

Adjusted As reported
Three Months Ended
March 31, Three months ended
March 31,
Other metrics 2016 2015 2016 2015
SG&A as a % of revenue 11.0 % 10.9 % 11.0 10.7 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 71.1 71.3 71.3 70.1
Operating profit as a % of revenue 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.8
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 25.1 25.1 23.7 24.8
Pretax margin 3.3 3.4 3.0 3.2
Net profit margin 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.3

(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended
March 31, Increase %
Increase
2016 2015 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 1,062,335 $ 1,000,768 $ 61,567 6.2 %
Used vehicle retail 516,277 459,192 57,085 12.4
Used vehicle wholesale 63,805 61,949 1,856 3.0
Finance and insurance 75,365 64,206 11,159 17.4
Service, body and parts 189,968 172,116 17,852 10.4
Fleet and other 14,583 18,145 (3,562 ) (19.6 )
Total revenues $ 1,922,333 $ 1,776,376 $ 145,957 8.2

Gross profit
New vehicle retail $ 64,818 $ 61,278 $ 3,540 5.8 %
Used vehicle retail 62,543 59,026 3,517 6.0
Used vehicle wholesale 1,755 2,222 (467 ) (21.0 )
Finance and insurance 75,365 64,206 11,159 17.4
Service, body and parts 92,956 83,749 9,207 11.0
Fleet and other 544 956 (412 ) (43.1 )
Total gross profit $ 297,981 $ 271,437 $ 26,544 9.8

Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.1 % 6.1 % -- bps
Used vehicle retail 12.1 12.9 (80 )
Used vehicle wholesale 2.8 3.6 (80 )
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 --
Service, body and parts 48.9 48.7 20
Fleet and other 3.7 5.3 (160 )
Total gross profit 15.5 15.3 20

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 31,779 30,391 1,388 4.6 %
Used vehicle retail 26,531 23,972 2,559 10.7
Total retail units sold 58,310 54,363 3,947 7.3
Used vehicle wholesale 9,255 9,063 192 2.1

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 33,429 $ 32,930 $ 499 1.5 %
Used vehicle retail 19,459 19,155 304 1.6
Used vehicle wholesale 6,894 6,835 59 0.9

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,040 $ 2,016 $ 24 1.2 %
Used vehicle retail 2,357 2,462 (105 ) (4.3 )
Used vehicle wholesale 190 245 (55 ) (22.4 )
Finance and insurance 1,292 1,181 111 9.4
Total vehicle(1) 3,507 3,435 72 2.1

(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Segment Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended
March 31, Increase %
Increase
2016 2015 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
Domestic $ 768,902 $ 690,682 $ 78,220 11.3 %
Import 865,743 760,080 105,663 13.9
Luxury 346,813 336,993 9,820 2.9
Total segment revenues 1,981,458 1,787,755 193,703 10.8
Corporate and other 1,403 1,423 (20 ) (1.4 )
Total revenues $ 1,982,861 $ 1,789,178 $ 193,683 10.8

Segment Income(1)
Domestic $ 21,730 $ 27,294 $ (5,564 ) (20.4) %
Import 22,633 17,063 5,570 32.6
Luxury 4,235 6,645 (2,410 ) (36.3 )
Total segment income 48,598 51,002 (2,404 ) (4.7 )
Corporate and other 30,071 21,976 8,095 36.8
Depreciation and amortization (11,663 ) (9,726 ) (1,937 ) 19.9
Other interest expense (5,459 ) (4,828 ) (631 ) 13.1
Other expense, net (1,526 ) (368 ) (1,158 ) NM
Income before income taxes $ 60,021 58,056 $ 1,965 3.4

(1) Segment income for each of the segments is defined as Income before income taxes, less Depreciation and amortization, Other interest expense and Other expense, net.

Retail New Vehicle Unit Sales
Domestic 10,649 10,012 637 6.4 %
Import 18,114 16,805 1,309 7.8
Luxury 4,063 3,865 198 5.1
Total 32,826 30,682 2,144 7.0
Allocated to management (77 ) (59 ) (18 ) NM
Total retail new vehicle unit sales 32,749 30,623 2,126 6.9

NM - not meaningful


Lithia Motors, Inc.
Other Highlights (Unaudited)

As of
March 31, December 31, March 31,
2016 2015 2015
Days Supply(1)
New vehicle inventory 78 67 62
Used vehicle inventory 53 55 49

(1) Days supply calculated based on current inventory levels, excluding in-transit vehicles, and a 30-day historical cost of sales level.



Financial covenants
Requirement As of March 31, 2016
Current ratio Not less than 1.10 to 1 1.25 to 1
Fixed charge coverage ratio Not less than 1.20 to 1 2.87 to 1
Leverage ratio Not more than 5.00 to 1 1.75 to 1
Funded debt restriction Not more than $600 million $414.4 million



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Other Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended
March 31,
2016 2015
New vehicle unit sales brand mix
Honda, Acura 23.2 % 22.0 %
Toyota, Lexus 19.7 20.1
Chrysler 18.6 19.1
General Motors 8.8 9.0
Subaru 7.3 7.2
BMW, Mini 5.5 5.8
Ford 5.2 4.6
Nissan 3.8 4.0
Volkswagen, Audi 2.7 2.8
Hyundai 1.9 2.1
Mercedes Benz 1.3 1.6
Kia 1.3 1.3
Other 0.7 0.4

Three months ended
March 31,
2016 2015
Revenue geographic mix
California 23.0 % 22.2 %
Oregon 16.8 16.8
Texas 14.0 15.7
New Jersey 13.9 13.7
Montana 6.3 5.8
Washington 5.4 5.1
Alaska 4.7 5.1
Nevada 3.2 3.2
New York 3.0 2.7
Idaho 2.8 3.1
Iowa 2.5 2.8
Hawaii 2.0 1.4
North Dakota 1.2 1.5
New Mexico 0.9 0.9
Massachusetts 0.3 --

As of March 31, 2016
Current store count mix # of stores % of total
Chrysler 27 19.6 %
Honda, Acura 21 15.2
Toyota, Lexus 20 14.5
General Motors 16 11.6
BMW, Mini 11 8.0
Subaru 8 5.8
Volkswagen, Audi 8 5.8
Ford 7 5.1
Nissan 6 4.3
Hyundai 4 2.9
Mercedes Benz 4 2.9
Other 6 4.3



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
(In thousands)

March 31, 2016 December 31, 2015
Cash and cash equivalents $ 21,559 $ 45,008
Trade receivables, net 286,292 308,462
Inventories, net 1,541,085 1,470,987
Other current assets 50,473 54,408
Total current assets $ 1,899,409 $ 1,878,865

Property and equipment, net 882,405 876,660
Goodwill 213,934 213,220
Franchise value 161,668 157,699
Other non-current assets 110,202 100,855
Total assets $ 3,267,618 $ 3,227,299

Floor plan notes payable $ 55,836 $ 48,083
Floor plan notes payable: non trade 1,296,751 1,265,872
Current maturities of long-term debt 33,721 38,891
Trade payables 78,250 70,871
Accrued liabilities 179,145 167,108
Total current liabilities $ 1,643,703 $ 1,590,825

Long-term debt 595,663 606,463
Deferred revenue 70,066 66,734
Deferred income taxes 59,134 53,129
Other long-term liabilities 84,375 81,984
Total liabilities $ 2,452,941 $ 2,399,135

Class A common stock 213,699 258,410
Class B common stock 219 316
Additional paid-in capital 34,866 38,822
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (114 ) (277 )
Retained earnings 566,007 530,893
Total liabilities & stockholders' equity $ 3,267,618 $ 3,227,299



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Summarized Cash Flow from Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands)

Three Months Ended
March 31,
2016 2015
Net income $ 40,270 $ 40,653
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Asset impairments 3,498 4,130
Depreciation and amortization 11,663 9,726
Stock-based compensation 3,149 2,727
Gain on disposal of assets (3,391 ) 8
Gain on sale of franchise (1,087 ) (3,349 )
Deferred income taxes 10,261 3,863
Excess tax benefit from share-based payment arrangements (4,379 ) (4,733 )
(Increase) decrease:
Trade receivables, net 25,564 7,569
Inventories (73,744 ) (39,460 )
Other assets (4,705 ) (2,078 )
Increase (decrease):
Floor plan notes payable, net 7,753 1,092
Trade payables 920 6,799
Accrued liabilities 13,425 4,444
Other long-term liabilities and deferred revenue 5,396 6,838
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 34,593 $ 38,229



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow from Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands)

Three Months Ended
March 31,
Net cash provided by operating activities 2016 2015
As reported $ 34,593 $ 38,229
Floor plan notes payable, non-trade, net 38,626 (21,984 )
Adjusted $ 73,219 $ 16,245



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
(In thousands, except for per share data)

Three Months Ended March 31, 2016
As reported Disposal gain on sale of store Equity investment fair value adjustment Legal reserve adjustment Adjusted
Asset impairments $ 3,498 $ -- $ (3,498 ) $ -- $ --

Selling, general and administrative 219,106 1,087 -- (1,906 ) 218,287

Income from operations 72,916 (1,087 ) 3,498 1,906 77,233

Other expense, net (1,526 ) -- 2,066 -- 540

Income before income taxes $ 60,021 $ (1,087 ) $ 5,564 $ 1,906 $ 66,404
Income tax expense (19,751 ) 426 (5,945 ) (747 ) (26,017 )
Net income $ 40,270 $ (661 ) $ (381 ) $ 1,159 $ 40,387

Diluted earnings per share $ 1.55 $ (0.03 ) $ (0.01 ) $ 0.04 $ 1.55
Diluted share count 25,973
Three Months Ended March 31, 2015
As reported Disposal gain on sale of store Equity investment fair value adjustment Adjusted
Asset impairments $ 4,130 -- $ (4,130 ) $ --

Selling, general and administrative 191,618 3,349 -- 194,967

Income from operations 67,901 (3,349 ) 4,130 68,682

Other expense, net (368 ) -- 1,732 1,364

Income before income taxes $ 58,056 (3,349 ) $ 5,862 $ 60,569
Income tax expense (17,403 ) 1,004 (7,250 ) (23,649 )
Net income $ 40,653 (2,345 ) $ (1,388 ) $ 36,920

Diluted earnings per share $ 1.53 (0.09 ) $ (0.05 ) $ 1.39
Diluted share count 26,519
Contact:

John North
VP Finance and Chief Accounting Officer
(541) 618-5748

Lithia Reports Adjusted EPS of $2.03 for Third Quarter of 2015; Revenues Increase 61%

Declares $0.20 per Share Dividend for Third Quarter

.

Marketwired
Lithia Motors
October 21, 2015 6:55 AM








MEDFORD, OR--(Marketwired - Oct 21, 2015) - Lithia Motors, Inc. ( NYSE : LAD ) reported adjusted net income of $53.6 million for the third quarter of 2015, the highest quarterly net income in company history and a 54% increase over the prior year period.

2015 third quarter adjusted net income was $2.03 per diluted share. This compares to 2014 third quarter adjusted net income of $34.9 million, or $1.32 per diluted share.

Unadjusted net income for the third quarter of 2015 was $43.4 million, or $1.64 per diluted share, compared to $34.5 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2014. As shown in the attached non-GAAP reconciliation tables, the 2015 third quarter adjusted results exclude a $0.39 non-core net charge related to a previously announced employee transition agreement partially offset by an equity investment. The 2014 third quarter adjusted results exclude a $0.01 non-core net charge related to acquisition expenses partially offset by a non-core benefit resulting from a tax attribute.

Third quarter 2015 revenue increased $788 million, or 61%, to $2.1 billion from $1.3 billion for the third quarter of 2014.

Third Quarter-over-Quarter Operating Highlights:
• Total same store sales increased 12%
• New vehicle same store sales increased 11%
• Used vehicle retail same store sales increased 13%
• Service, body and parts same store sales increased 10%
• Same store F&I per unit increased $71 to $1,274
• Adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit was 66.0%

"Our third quarter earnings were the highest in company history," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "Same store sales in all four business lines grew by double digits, led by a 13% increase in used vehicle sales. Total revenues increased 61% and adjusted earnings per share increased 54% over the prior year period. A robust new vehicle sales environment, improving supply of late model used vehicles, and the continued growth in our service, body and parts business is allowing our store leaders to unlock new opportunities to improve performance across our company. We remain positive on the overall outlook for both organic and acquisition growth in 2016."

For the first nine months of 2015, revenue from continuing operations increased 63% to $5.9 billion from $3.6 billion in 2014.

For the first nine months of 2015, adjusted net income per diluted share increased 43% to $5.28 from $3.69 for the first nine months of 2014. Unadjusted net income from continuing operations was $5.10 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2015, compared to $3.58 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2014.

Chris Holzshu, SVP and CFO, said, "Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 66.0% in the third quarter of 2015, bringing the first nine months of the year down to 67.8%, thanks to strong performance from both Lithia and DCH. For the third quarter, incremental throughput, or the percentage of additional same store gross profit dollars that we retain after deducting incremental selling costs, was 49.3% We are targeting consolidated SG&A as a percentage of gross profit in the mid-60s on a full year basis. Additionally, same store F&I per unit was $1,274 per unit, an increase of $71 over the prior year. We still believe opportunity remains to improve this number given continued focus by our store personnel."

Corporate Development
As previously announced, in the third quarter of 2015 we acquired a Ford store in Missoula, Montana, an Acura store in Honolulu, Hawaii, and a Subaru Hyundai GMC store in Great Falls, Montana. Also as previously announced, in October, 2015 we acquired a Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Fiat store in Concord, California. We estimate these stores will contribute approximately $175 million in annual revenues.

Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO, stated, "We have purchased or opened six stores in 2015 which will add cumulative annual revenues of approximately $220 million. We are actively seeking stores in both our Lithia exclusive market strategy and in our DCH metropolitan market strategy. The acquisition market remains robust and we anticipate further transactions for both Lithia and DCH in the near term."

Balance Sheet Update
We ended the second quarter with $33 million in cash and $163 million in availability on our credit facilities. Additionally, approximately $144 million of our operating real estate is currently unfinanced, which could provide an estimated additional $108 million in available liquidity, for total potential liquidity of $304 million.

Dividend Payment
Our Board of Directors has approved a dividend of $0.20 per share related to third quarter 2015 financial results. We will pay the dividend November 20, 2015 to shareholders of record on November 6, 2015.

2015 Outlook
We project 2015 fourth quarter earnings of $1.61 to $1.65 per diluted share and 2015 full year earnings of $6.89 to $6.93 per diluted share. Both projections are based on the following annual assumptions:

Continuing Operations Projections
• Total revenues of $7.8 to $7.9 billion
• New vehicle sales increasing 48%
• New vehicle gross margin of 6.0% to 6.2%
• Used vehicle sales increasing 41%
• Used vehicle gross margin of 12.4% to 12.6%
• Service body and parts sales increasing 44%
• Service body and parts gross margin of 48.8% to 49.2%
• Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,190 per unit
• Tax rate of 39.0%
• Average diluted shares outstanding of 26.5 million

Same Store Projections
• Total revenues of $5.7 to $5.9 billion
• New vehicle same store sales increasing 9%
• Used vehicle same store sales increasing 12.5%
• Service body and parts same store sales increasing 10%
• Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,230 per unit

2016 Earnings Guidance
We project 2016 first quarter earnings of $1.46 to $1.50 per diluted share and 2016 full year earnings of $7.15 to $7.35 per diluted share. Both projections are based on the following annual assumptions:
• Total revenues of $8.3 to $8.4 billion
• New vehicle sales increasing 5.5%
• New vehicle gross margin of 5.9% to 6.1%
• Used vehicle sales increasing 6%
• Used vehicle gross margin of 12.4% to 12.6%
• Service body and parts sales increasing 5%
• Service body and parts gross margin of 49.0%to 49.4%
• Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,210 per unit
• Tax rate of 40.0%
• Average diluted shares outstanding of 26.6 million

These projections exclude the impact of future acquisitions, dispositions and non-core items. Actual results may be affected by items described under Forward-Looking Statements below.

Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Updated Presentation
The third quarter conference call may be accessed at 11:00 a.m. ET today by telephone at 877-407-8029. An updated presentation highlighting the third quarter results has been added to www.lithiainvestorrelations.com .

To listen live on our website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com and click on webcasts.

About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Lithia sells 31 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles at 135 stores in 14 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
www.lithiacareers.com

Lithia Motors on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors

Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "Safe-Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding our goals, plans, projections and guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, pending and potential future acquisitions and business strategy, and often contain words such as "project," "outlook," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "may," "seek," "would," "should," "likely," "goal," "strategy," "future," "maintain," "continue," "remain," "target" or "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements regarding:
• Future market conditions;
• Expected operating results, such as improved store performance; continued improvement of SG&A as a percentage of gross profit; generating 2015 fourth quarter earnings per share of $1.61 to $1.65 per diluted share and 2015 full year earnings of $6.89 to $6.93 per diluted share; generating 2016 first quarter earnings per share of $1.46 to $1.50 per diluted share and 2016 full year earnings of $7.15 to $7.35 per diluted share and all projections set forth under the headings "2015 Outlook", "Continuing Operations Projections", "Same Store Projections" and "2016 Earnings Guidance";
• Anticipated continued success and growth of DCH;
• Anticipated ability to improve store performance; ability to find accretive acquisitions; and additions of dealership locations to the company's portfolio in the future; and
• Anticipated availability of liquidity from our unfinanced operating real estate.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated or projected results include, without limitation, future economic and financial conditions (both nationally and locally), changes in customer demand, our relationship with, and the financial and operational stability of, vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, risks associated with our indebtedness (including available borrowing capacity, compliance with financial covenants and ability to refinance or repay indebtedness on favorable terms), government regulations, legislation and others set forth throughout Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. We urge you to carefully consider this information and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update our forward-looking statements, including our earnings outlook, which are made as of the date of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the attached financial tables contain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of revenues and gross profit, adjusted operating margin, adjusted operating profit as a percentage of gross profit, and adjusted pre-tax margin. Non-GAAP measures do not have definitions under GAAP and may be defined differently by and not comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, we review any non-GAAP financial measures in connection with a review of the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We caution you not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP measures, but also to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We present cash flows from operations in the attached tables, adjusted to include the change in non-trade floor plan debt to improve the visibility of cash flows related to vehicle financing. As required by SEC rules, we have reconciled these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the attachments to this release. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures we present improve the transparency of our disclosures; provide a meaningful presentation of our results from core business operations, because they exclude items not related to core business operations and other non-cash items; and improve the period-to-period comparability of our results from core business operations. These presentations should not be considered an alternative to GAAP measures.



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Three months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 1,227,080 $ 732,121 $ 494,959 67.6 %
Used vehicle retail 505,885 340,522 165,363 48.6
Used vehicle wholesale 69,472 48,853 20,619 42.2
Finance and insurance 76,633 46,855 29,778 63.6
Service, body and parts 189,796 120,772 69,024 57.2
Fleet and other 15,979 7,988 7,991 100.0
Total revenues 2,084,845 1,297,111 787,734 60.7
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 1,149,923 684,473 465,450 68.0
Used vehicle retail 443,598 296,624 146,974 49.5
Used vehicle wholesale 68,892 48,349 20,543 42.5
Service, body and parts 95,846 62,351 33,495 53.7
Fleet and other 15,399 7,474 7,925 106.0
Total cost of sales 1,773,658 1,099,271 674,387 61.3
Gross profit 311,187 197,840 113,347 57.3
Asset impairments 4,131 - 4,131 NM
SG&A expense 223,728 131,627 92,101 70.0
Depreciation and amortization 10,531 6,067 4,464 73.6
Income from operations 72,797 60,146 12,651 21.0
Floor plan interest expense (4,951 ) (3,127 ) 1,824 58.3
Other interest expense (4,900 ) (2,051 ) 2,849 138.9
Other (expense) income, net (307 ) 1,027 (1,334 ) NM
Income before income taxes 62,639 55,995 6,644 11.9
Income tax expense (19,248 ) (21,458 ) 2,210 10.3
Income tax rate 30.7 % 38.3 %
Net income $ 43,391 $ 34,537 $ 8,854 25.6 %

Diluted net income per share:
Net income per share $ 1.64 $ 1.31 $ 0.33 25.2 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,480 26,359 121 0.5 %

NM - not meaningful




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.3 % 6.5 % (20) bps
Used vehicle retail 12.3 12.9 (60) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 0.8 1.0 (20) bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 49.5 48.4 110 bps
Fleet and other 3.6 6.4 (280) bps
Gross profit margin 14.9 15.3 (40) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 37,401 21,320 16,081 75.4 %
Used vehicle retail 26,206 17,710 8,496 48.0
Total retail units sold 63,607 39,030 24,577 63.0
Used vehicle wholesale 10,239 6,989 3,250 46.5

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 32,809 $ 34,340 $ (1,531 ) (4.5 )%
Used vehicle retail 19,304 19,228 76 0.4
Used vehicle wholesale 6,785 6,990 (205 ) (2.9 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,063 $ 2,235 $ (172 ) (7.7 )%
Used vehicle retail 2,377 2,479 (102 ) (4.1 )
Used vehicle wholesale 57 72 (15 ) (20.8 )
Finance and insurance 1,205 1,200 5 0.4
Total vehicle (1) 3,406 3,559 (153 ) (4.3 )

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 58.8 % 56.4 %
Used vehicle retail 24.3 26.3
Used vehicle wholesale 3.3 3.8
Finance and insurance, net 3.7 3.6
Service, body and parts 9.1 9.3
Fleet and other 0.8 0.6

Adjusted As reported
Three months ended
September 30, Three months ended
September 30,
Other metrics 2015 2014 2015 2014
SG&A as a % of revenue 9.9 % 10.1 % 10.7 % 10.1 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 66.0 66.1 71.9 66.5
Operating profit as a % of revenue 4.6 4.7 3.5 4.6
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 30.6 30.8 23.4 30.4
Pretax margin 4.2 4.4 3.0 4.3
Net profit margin 2.6 2.7 2.1 2.7


(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail
null



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 810,720 $ 727,924 $ 82,796 11.4 %
Used vehicle retail 381,773 338,400 43,373 12.8
Used vehicle wholesale 54,088 48,600 5,488 11.3
Finance and insurance 54,099 46,607 7,492 16.1
Service, body and parts 132,331 120,099 12,232 10.2
Fleet and other 8,137 7,990 147 1.8
Total revenues $ 1,441,148 $ 1,289,620 $ 151,528 11.7

Gross profit
New vehicle retail $ 50,730 $ 47,211 $ 3,519 7.5 %
Used vehicle retail 49,016 43,716 5,300 12.1
Used vehicle wholesale 690 544 146 26.8
Finance and insurance 54,099 46,607 7,492 16.1
Service, body and parts 64,822 58,100 6,722 11.6
Fleet and other 563 516 47 9.1
Total gross profit $ 219,920 $ 196,694 $ 23,226 11.8

Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.3 % 6.5 % (20) bps
Used vehicle retail 12.8 12.9 (10) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 1.3 1.1 20 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 49.0 48.4 60 bps
Fleet and other 6.9 6.5 40 bps
Gross profit margin 15.3 15.3 - bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 23,219 21,163 2,056 9.7 %
Used vehicle retail 19,255 17,566 1,689 9.6
Total retail units sold 42,474 38,729 3,745 9.7
Used vehicle wholesale 7,226 6,916 310 4.5

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 34,916 $ 34,396 $ 520 1.5 %
Used vehicle retail 19,827 19,265 562 2.9
Used vehicle wholesale 7,485 7,027 458 6.5

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,185 $ 2,231 $ (46 ) (2.1 )%
Used vehicle retail 2,546 2,489 57 2.3
Used vehicle wholesale 96 79 17 21.5
Finance and insurance 1,274 1,203 71 5.9
Total vehicle(1) 3,638 3,565 73 2.0

(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Nine months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 3,384,408 $ 2,006,127 $ 1,378,281 68.7 %
Used vehicle retail 1,457,617 952,890 504,727 53.0
Used vehicle wholesale 198,476 135,832 62,644 46.1
Finance and insurance 213,700 130,324 83,376 64.0
Service, body and parts 545,966 339,726 206,240 60.7
Fleet and other 70,803 32,120 38,683 120.4
Total revenues 5,870,970 3,597,019 2,273,951 63.2
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 3,176,135 1,873,461 1,302,674 69.5
Used vehicle retail 1,273,195 824,129 449,066 54.5
Used vehicle wholesale 194,329 132,493 61,836 46.7
Service, body and parts 276,828 174,291 102,537 58.8
Fleet and other 68,272 30,444 37,828 124.3
Total cost of sales 4,988,759 3,034,818 1,953,941 64.4
Gross profit 882,211 562,201 320,010 56.9
Asset impairments 14,391 - 14,391 NM
SG&A expense 610,956 378,919 232,037 61.2
Depreciation and amortization 30,544 17,399 13,145 75.6
Income from operations 226,320 165,883 60,437 36.4
Floor plan interest expense (14,255 ) (9,326 ) 4,929 52.9
Other interest expense (14,700 ) (5,894 ) 8,806 149.4
Other (expense) income, net (1,030 ) 3,110 (4,140 ) NM
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 196,334 153,773 42,561 27.7
Income tax expense (61,067 ) (59,372 ) 1,695 2.9
Income tax rate 31.1 % 38.6 %
Income from continuing operations $ 135,267 $ 94,401 $ 40,866 43.3 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax - 3,179 (3,179 ) NM
Net income $ 135,267 $ 97,580 $ 37,687 38.6 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 5.10 $ 3.58 $ 1.52 42.5 %
Discontinued operations - 0.13 (0.13 ) NM
Net income per share $ 5.10 $ 3.71 $ 1.39 37.5 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,500 26,337 163 0.6 %

NM - not meaningful




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Nine months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.2 % 6.6 % (40) bps
Used vehicle retail 12.7 13.5 (80) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 2.1 2.5 (40) bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 49.3 48.7 60 bps
Fleet and other 3.6 5.2 (160) bps
Gross profit margin 15.0 15.6 (60) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 103,136 59,040 44,096 74.7 %
Used vehicle retail 75,099 50,112 24,987 49.9
Total retail units sold 178,235 109,152 69,083 63.3
Used vehicle wholesale 28,822 18,889 9,933 52.6

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 32,815 $ 33,979 $ (1,164 ) (3.4) %
Used vehicle retail 19,409 19,015 394 2.1
Used vehicle wholesale 6,886 7,191 (305 ) (4.2 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,019 $ 2,247 $ (228 ) (10.1) %
Used vehicle retail 2,456 2,569 (113 ) (4.4 )
Used vehicle wholesale 144 177 (33 ) (18.6 )
Finance and insurance 1,199 1,194 5 0.4

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 57.6 % 55.8 %
Used vehicle retail 24.8 26.5
Used vehicle wholesale 3.4 3.8
Finance and insurance, net 3.6 3.6
Service, body and parts 9.3 9.4
Fleet and other 1.3 0.9

Adjusted As reported
Nine months ended
September 30, Nine months ended
September 30,
Other metrics 2015 2014 2015 2014
SG&A as a % of revenue 10.2 % 10.4 % 10.4 % 10.5 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 67.8 66.5 69.3 67.4
Operating profit as a % of revenue 4.3 4.8 3.9 4.6
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 28.7 30.4 25.7 29.5
Pretax margin 3.9 4.4 3.3 4.3
Net profit margin 2.4 2.7 2.3 2.6


...

Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Nine months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 2,190,337 $ 1,988,665 $ 201,672 10.1 %
Used vehicle retail 1,071,691 943,360 128,331 13.6
Used vehicle wholesale 148,249 135,173 13,076 9.7
Finance and insurance 148,232 129,155 19,077 14.8
Service, body and parts 371,432 336,881 34,551


Contact:


John North
VP Finance and Chief Accounting Officer
(541) 618-5748

124 shares in at $120 wish i found this gem earlier.

Lithia Reports Adjusted EPS of $1.86 for Second Quarter of 2015; Revenues Increase 63%

Declares $0.20 per Share Dividend for Second Quarter

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Marketwired
Lithia Motors
July 22, 2015 7:29 AM








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MEDFORD, OR--(Marketwired - Jul 22, 2015) - Lithia Motors, Inc. ( NYSE : LAD ) reported adjusted net income of $49.4 million for the second quarter of 2015, the highest quarterly net income in company history and a 40% increase over the prior year period.

2015 second quarter adjusted net income was $1.86 per diluted share. This compares to 2014 second quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations of $35.2 million, or $1.34 per diluted share.

Unadjusted net income from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2015 was $51.2 million, or $1.93 per diluted share, compared to $35.2 million, or $1.34 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2014. As shown in the attached non-GAAP reconciliation tables, the 2015 second quarter adjusted results exclude a $0.07 net benefit from non-core items related to a gain on the sale of a store, asset impairment charges related to real estate and a net benefit on an equity investment. The 2014 second quarter adjusted results from continuing operations exclude non-core charges related to acquisition expenses for the pending DCH combination offset by a non-core benefit resulting from a tax attribute, resulting in no change to earnings per share.

Second quarter 2015 revenue from continuing operations increased $775 million, or 63%, to $2.0 billion from $1.2 billion for the second quarter of 2014.

Second Quarter-over-Quarter Operating Highlights:
•Total same store sales increased 11%
•New vehicle same store sales increased 8%
•Used vehicle retail same store sales increased 16%
•Service, body and parts same store sales increased 10%
•Same store F&I per unit increased $78 to $1,280
•Adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit was 66.6%



"Our second quarter earnings were the highest quarterly earnings in company history," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "Total same store sales grew double digits, led by a 16% increase in used vehicle sales. Total revenues increased 63% and adjusted earnings per share increased 39% over the prior year period. Our store leaders remain focused on continuing to capture more new vehicle market share, increasing used vehicle unit volume and growing service revenue while providing an exceptional customer experience. Within both DCH and Lithia, many opportunities remain to improve store performance and to find accretive acquisitions."

For the first six months of 2015, revenue from continuing operations increased 65% to $3.8 billion from $2.3 billion in 2014.

For the first six months of 2015, adjusted net income per diluted share increased 38% to $3.26 from $2.36 for the first six months of 2014. Unadjusted net income from continuing operations was $3.47 per diluted share for the first six months of 2015, compared to $2.27 per diluted share for the first six months of 2014.

Chris Holzshu, SVP and CFO, said, "Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 66.6% in the second quarter of 2015, bringing the first half of the year down to 68.8%. DCH has been able to reduce selling costs more quickly than we anticipated. As we continue to integrate operations, we are targeting consolidated SG&A as a percentage of gross profit in the mid-60s on a full year basis. Additionally, same store F&I per unit was $1,280 per unit, an increase of $78 over the prior year and the best result in company history. We still believe opportunity remains to improve this number given continued focus by our store personnel."

Balance Sheet Update
We ended the second quarter with $23 million in cash and $168 million in available credit on our credit facilities. Additionally, approximately $156 million of our operating real estate is currently unfinanced, which could provide an estimated additional $117 million in available liquidity, for total potential liquidity of $308 million.

Dividend Payment
Our Board of Directors has approved a dividend of $0.20 per share related to second quarter 2015 financial results. We will pay the dividend August 21, 2015 to shareholders of record on August 7, 2015.

2015 Outlook
We project 2015 third quarter earnings of $1.83 to $1.87 per diluted share and 2015 full year earnings of $6.63 to $6.72 per diluted share. Both projections are based on the following annual assumptions:

Continuing Operations Projections
•Total revenues of $7.6 to $7.8 billion
•New vehicle sales increasing 45.0%
•New vehicle gross margin of 5.9% to 6.1%
•Used vehicle sales increasing 40.0%
•Used vehicle gross margin of 12.6% to 12.8%
•Service body and parts sales increasing 42.0%
•Service body and parts gross margin of 48.8% to 49.2%
•Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,200 per unit
•Tax rate of 40.0%
•Average diluted shares outstanding of 26.5 million



Same Store Projections
•Total revenues of $5.7 to $5.9 billion
•New vehicle same store sales increasing 7.0%
•Used vehicle same store sales increasing 12.0%
•Service body and parts same store sales increasing 8.5%
•Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,250 per unit



These projections exclude the impact of future acquisitions, dispositions and non-core items. Actual results may be affected by items described under Forward-Looking Statements below.

Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Updated Presentation
The second quarter conference call may be accessed at 10:00 a.m. ET today by telephone at 877-407-8029 . An updated presentation highlighting the second quarter results has been added to www.lithiainvestorrelations.com .

To listen live on our website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com and click on webcasts.

About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is one of the largest automotive retailer in the United States. Lithia sells 31 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles at 129 stores in 14 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
www.lithiacareers.com

Lithia Motors on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors

Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "Safe-Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding our goals, plans, projections and guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, pending and potential future acquisitions and business strategy, and often contain words such as "project," "outlook," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "may," "seek," "would," "should," "likely," "goal," "strategy," "future," "maintain," "continue," "remain," "target" or "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements regarding:
•Future market conditions;
•Expected operating results, such as improved store performance; continued improvement of SG&A as a percentage of gross profit; generating third quarter earnings per share of $1.83 to $1.87 per diluted share and 2015 full year earnings of $6.63 to $6.72 per diluted share; and all projections set forth under the headings "2015 Outlook," "Continuing Operations Projections" and "Same Store Projections";
•Anticipated continued success, integration and growth of DCH;
•Anticipated ability to improve store performance; ability to find accretive acquisitions; and additions of dealership locations to the company's portfolio in the future; and
•Anticipated availability of liquidity from our unfinanced operating real estate.



By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated or projected results include, without limitation, future economic and financial conditions (both nationally and locally), changes in customer demand, our relationship with, and the financial and operational stability of, vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, risks associated with our indebtedness (including available borrowing capacity, compliance with financial covenants and ability to refinance or repay indebtedness on favorable terms), government regulations, legislation and others set forth throughout Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. We urge you to carefully consider this information and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update our forward-looking statements, including our earnings outlook, which are made as of the date of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the attached financial tables contain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of revenues and gross profit, adjusted operating margin, adjusted operating profit as a percentage of gross profit, and adjusted pre-tax margin. Non-GAAP measures do not have definitions under GAAP and may be defined differently by and not comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, we review any non-GAAP financial measures in connection with a review of the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We caution you not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP measures, but also to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We present cash flows from operations in the attached tables, adjusted to include the change in non-trade floor plan debt to improve the visibility of cash flows related to vehicle financing. As required by SEC rules, we have reconciled these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the attachments to this release. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures we present improve the transparency of our disclosures; provide a meaningful presentation of our results from core business operations, because they exclude items not related to core business operations and other non-cash items; and improve the period-to-period comparability of our results from core business operations. These presentations should not be considered an alternative to GAAP measures.



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Three months ended %
June 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 1,149,512 $ 694,484 $ 455,028 65.5 %
Used vehicle retail 488,801 310,475 178,326 57.4
Used vehicle wholesale 66,796 44,286 22,510 50.8
Finance and insurance 72,463 43,838 28,625 65.3
Service, body and parts 182,695 114,337 68,358 59.8
Fleet and other 36,680 14,382 22,298 155.0
Total revenues 1,996,947 1,221,802 775,145 63.4
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 1,080,170 648,490 431,680 66.6
Used vehicle retail 426,108 266,408 159,700 59.9
Used vehicle wholesale 65,390 42,782 22,608 52.8
Service, body and parts 91,946 58,155 33,791 58.1
Fleet and other 35,684 13,667 22,017 161.1
Total cost of sales 1,699,298 1,029,502 669,796 65.1
Gross profit 297,649 192,300 105,349 54.8
Asset impairments 6,130 - 6,130 NM
SG&A expense 195,610 125,463 70,147 55.9
Depreciation and amortization 10,287 5,825 4,462 76.6
Income from operations 85,622 61,012 24,610 40.3
Floor plan interest expense (4,655 ) (3,215 ) 1,440 44.8
Other interest expense (4,972 ) (1,869 ) 3,103 166.0
Other (expense) income, net (356 ) 1,146 (1,502 ) NM
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 75,639 57,074 18,565 32.5
Income tax expense (24,416 ) (21,904 ) 2,512 11.5
Income tax rate 32.3 % 38.4 %
Income from continuing operations $ 51,223 $ 35,170 $ 16,053 45.6 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax - 3,139 (3,139 ) NM
Net income $ 51,223 $ 38,309 $ 12,914 33.7 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 1.93 $ 1.34 $ 0.59 44.0 %
Discontinued operations - 0.11 (0.11 ) NM
Net income per share $ 1.93 $ 1.45 $ 0.48 33.1 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,496 26,331 165 0.6 %


NM - not meaningful



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
June 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.0 % 6.6 % (60) bps
Used vehicle retail 12.8 14.2 (140) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 2.1 3.4 (130) bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 49.7 49.1 60 bps
Fleet and other 2.7 5.0 (230) bps
Gross profit margin 14.9 15.7 (80) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 35,112 20,446 14,666 71.7 %
Used vehicle retail 24,689 16,086 8,603 53.5
Total retail units sold 59,801 36,532 23,269 63.7
Used vehicle wholesale 9,439 6,047 3,392 56.1

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 32,738 $ 33,967 $ (1,229 ) (3.6) %
Used vehicle retail 19,798 19,301 497 2.6
Used vehicle wholesale 7,077 7,324 (247 ) (3.4 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 1,975 $ 2,250 $ (275 ) (12.2) %
Used vehicle retail 2,539 2,739 (200 ) (7.3 )
Used vehicle wholesale 149 249 (100 ) (40.2 )
Finance and insurance 1,212 1,200 12 1.0
Total vehicle (1) 3,443 3,706 (263 ) (7.1 )

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 57.6 % 56.8 %
Used vehicle retail 24.5 25.4
Used vehicle wholesale 3.3 3.6
Finance and insurance, net 3.6 3.6
Service, body and parts 9.2 9.4
Fleet and other 1.8 1.2

Adjusted As reported
Three months ended
June 30, Three months ended
June 30,
Other metrics 2015 2014 2015 2014
SG&A as a % of revenue 9.9 % 10.3 % 9.8 % 10.3 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 66.6 65.2 65.7 65.2
Operating profit as a % of revenue 4.5 5.0 4.3 5.0
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 30.0 31.8 28.8 31.7
Pretax margin 4.1 4.7 3.8 4.7
Net profit margin 2.5 2.9 2.6 2.9


(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail

null


Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
June 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 742,347 $ 689,006 $ 53,341 7.7 %
Used vehicle retail 357,673 307,616 50,057 16.3
Used vehicle wholesale 49,157 44,043 5,114 11.6
Finance and insurance 50,160 43,508 6,652 15.3
Service, body and parts 124,087 113,252 10,835 9.6
Fleet and other 22,042 14,381 7,661 53.3
Total revenues $ 1,345,466 $ 1,211,806 $ 133,660 11.0

Gross profit
New vehicle retail $ 45,475 $ 45,578 $ (103 ) (0.2 )%
Used vehicle retail 47,933 43,720 4,213 9.6
Used vehicle wholesale 1,369 1,560 (191 ) (12.2 )
Finance and insurance 50,160 43,508 6,652 15.3
Service, body and parts 61,333 55,593 5,740 10.3
Fleet and other 837 714 123 17.2
Total gross profit $ 207,107 $ 190,673 $ 16,434 8.6

Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.1 % 6.6 % (50) bps
Used vehicle retail 13.4 14.2 (80) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 2.8 3.5 (70) bps
Finance and insurance 100 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 49.4 49.1 30 bps
Fleet and other 3.8 5.0 (120) bps
Gross profit margin 15.4 15.7 (30) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 21,411 20,260 1,151 5.7 %
Used vehicle retail 17,769 15,924 1,845 11.6
Total retail units sold 39,180 36,184 2,996 8.3
Used vehicle wholesale 6,259 5,981 278 4.6

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 34,671 $ 34,008 $ 663 1.9 %
Used vehicle retail 20,129 19,318 811 4.2
Used vehicle wholesale 7,854 7,364 490 6.7

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,124 $ 2,250 $ (126 ) (5.6 )%
Used vehicle retail 2,698 2,746 (48 ) (1.7 )
Used vehicle wholesale 219 261 (42 ) (16.1 )
Finance and insurance 1,280 1,202 78 6.5
Total vehicle(1) 3,699 3,713 (14 ) (0.4 )


(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Six months ended %
June 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 2,157,328 $ 1,274,006 $ 883,322 69.3 %
Used vehicle retail 951,732 612,368 339,364 55.4
Used vehicle wholesale 129,004 86,979 42,025 48.3
Finance and insurance 137,067 83,469 53,598 64.2
Service, body and parts 356,170 218,954 137,216 62.7
Fleet and other 54,824 24,132 30,692 127.2
Total revenues 3,786,125 2,299,908 1,486,217 64.6
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 2,026,212 1,188,988 837,224 70.4
Used vehicle retail 829,597 527,505 302,092 57.3
Used vehicle wholesale 125,437 84,144 41,293 49.1
Service, body and parts 180,982 111,940 69,042 61.7
Fleet and other 52,873 22,970 29,903 130.2
Total cost of sales 3,215,101 1,935,547 1,279,554 66.1
Gross profit 571,024 364,361 206,663 56.7
Asset impairments 10,260 - 10,260 NM
SG&A expense 387,228 247,292 139,936 56.6
Depreciation and amortization 20,013 11,332 8,681 76.6
Income from operations 153,523 105,737 47,786 45.2
Floor plan interest expense (9,304 ) (6,199 ) 3,105 50.1
Other interest expense (9,800 ) (3,843 ) 5,957 155.0
Other income, net (724 ) 2,083 (2,807 ) NM
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 133,695 97,778 35,917 36.7
Income tax expense (41,819 ) (37,914 ) 3,905 10.3
Income tax rate 31.3 % 38.8 %
Income from continuing operations $ 91,876 $ 59,864 $ 32,012 53.5 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax - 3,179 (3,179 ) NM
Net income $ 91,876 $ 63,043 $ 28,833 45.7 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 3.47 $ 2.27 $ 1.20 52.9 %
Discontinued operations - 0.12 (0.12 ) NM
Net income per share $ 3.47 $ 2.39 $ 1.08 45.2 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,509 26,326 183 0.7 %


NM - not meaningful




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Six months ended %
June 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.1 % 6.7 % (60) bps
Used vehicle retail 12.8 13.9 (110) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 2.8 3.3 (50) bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 49.2 48.9 30 bps
Fleet and other 3.6 4.8 (120) bps
Gross profit margin 15.1 15.8 (70) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 65,735 37,720 28,015 74.3 %
Used vehicle retail 48,893 32,402 16,491 50.9
Total retail units sold 114,628 70,122 44,506 63.5
Used vehicle wholesale 18,583 11,900 6,683 56.2

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 32,819 $ 33,775 $ (956 ) (2.8) %
Used vehicle retail 19,466 18,899 567 3.0
Used vehicle wholesale 6,942 7,309 (367 ) (5.0 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 1,995 $ 2,254 $ (259 ) (11.5) %
Used vehicle retail 2,498 2,619 (121 ) (4.6 )
Used vehicle wholesale 192 238 (46 ) (19.3 )
Finance and insurance 1,196 1,190 6 0.5

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 57.0 % 55.4 %
Used vehicle retail 25.1 26.6
Used vehicle wholesale 3.4 3.8
Finance and insurance, net 3.6 3.6
Service, body and parts 9.4 9.5
Fleet and other 1.5 1.1

Adjusted As reported
Six months ended
June 30, Six months ended
June 30,
Other metrics 2015 2014 2015 2014
SG&A as a % of revenue 10.4 % 10.6 % 10.2 % 10.8 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 68.8 66.7 67.8 67.9
Operating profit as a % of revenue 4.2 4.8 4.1 4.6
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 27.6 30.1 26.9 29.0
Pretax margin 3.7 4.4 3.5 4.3
Net profit margin 2.3 2.7 2.4 2.7

...


Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Six months ended %
June 30, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 1,379,617 $ 1,260,741 $ 118,876 9.4 %
Used vehicle retail 689,918 604,960 84,958 14.0
Used vehicle wholesale 94,161 86,573 7,588 8.8
Finance and insurance 94,133 82,548 11,585 14.0




Contact:


John North
VP Finance and Chief Accounting Officer
(541) 618-5748

Lithia Motors Reports Adjusted EPS of $1.39 for First Quarter 2015; Revenues Increase 66%

Lithia Increases Dividend to $0.20 per Share for First Quarter

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Marketwired
Lithia Motors
April 22, 2015 7:29 AM








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MEDFORD, OR--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2015) - Lithia Motors, Inc. ( NYSE : LAD ) reported the highest first quarter adjusted net income in Company history and increased adjusted net income from continuing operations 36% for the first quarter of 2015 over the prior year period.

2015 first quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations was $36.9 million, or $1.39 per diluted share. This compares to 2014 first quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations of $27.1 million, or $1.03 per diluted share.

Unadjusted net income from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2015 was $40.7 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, compared to $24.7 million, or $0.94 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2014. As shown in the attached non-GAAP reconciliation tables, the 2015 first quarter per share adjusted results from continuing operations exclude a $0.09 benefit related to the gain on the sale of a store and a $0.05 benefit related to an equity investment. The 2014 first quarter per share adjusted results from continuing operations exclude a $0.09 expense related to an adjustment to a reserve associated with a lawsuit filed in 2006 and settled in 2013, a loss for a hailstorm in Texas and a reserve for a contract assumed in an acquisition.

First quarter 2015 revenue from continuing operations increased $711 million, or 66%, to $1.8 billion from $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2014.

First Quarter-over-Quarter Operating Highlights:
•Total same store sales increased 11%
•New vehicle same store sales increased 11%
•Used vehicle retail same store sales increased 11%
•Service, body and parts same store sales increased 11%
•Same store F&I per unit increased $52 to $1,233
•Adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit was 71.3%



"We delivered the best first quarter earnings in our Company's history, and the second best quarterly earnings ever," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "For the fourth consecutive quarter, we achieved double digit growth in same store sales in all business lines. On a continuing operations basis, we grew revenue 66% and adjusted net income 36% over the first quarter of 2014. We remain focused on capturing additional market share, improving existing store results, the continued success, integration and growth of DCH and actively seeking accretive acquisitions."

Chris Holzshu, SVP and CFO, said, "SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 71.3% in the first quarter of 2015, slightly higher than the prior year due to the effect of the DCH acquisition, but better than our projection. We target improving SG&A as a percentage of gross profit as we integrate the 36 stores added in 2014. In the first quarter, incremental throughput, or the percentage of additional same store gross profit dollars that we retain after deducting incremental selling costs, was 45.1%. Our stores remain focused on maintaining incremental throughput of 45% to 50%, which will continue to lever our SG&A expense going forward."

Corporate Development
As previously announced, in January 2015, we opened Subaru of Clearlake, Texas. The store is a new franchise we were awarded from Subaru, which we estimate will contribute approximately $45 million in annual revenues.

Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO, stated, "The acquisition market is robust and we anticipate continued activity as independent dealers seek attractive exit strategies. We remain focused on pursuing accretive acquisitions and will continue to add locations to our portfolio in the future."

Balance Sheet Update
We ended the first quarter with $21 million in cash and $50 million in available credit from our credit facilities. Additionally, approximately $155 million of our operating real estate is currently unfinanced, which could provide an estimated additional $116 million in available liquidity, for total potential liquidity of $187 million.

Dividend Payment
Our Board of Directors has approved a 25% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share related to first quarter 2015 financial results. We will pay the dividend May 29, 2015 to shareholders of record on May 15, 2015.

2015 Outlook
We project 2015 second quarter earnings of $1.55 to $1.59 per diluted share and 2015 full year earnings of $6.20 to $6.30 per diluted share. Both projections are based on the following annual assumptions:

Continuing Operations Projections
•Total revenues of $7.5 to $7.7 billion
•New vehicle sales increasing 43.5%
•New vehicle gross margin of 5.9% to 6.1%
•Used vehicle sales increasing 36.5%
•Used vehicle gross margin of 12.6% to 12.8%
•Service body and parts sales increasing 40.5%
•Service body and parts gross margin of 48.8% to 49.0%
•Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,180 per unit
•Tax rate of 40.0%
•Average diluted shares outstanding of 26.5 million
•Full year capital expenditures are $100 million



Same Store Projections
•Total revenues of $5.2 to $5.4 billion
•New vehicle same store sales increasing 7.0%
•Used vehicle same store sales increasing 10.5%
•Service body and parts same store sales increasing 8.5%
•Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,200 per unit



These projections exclude the impact of future acquisitions, dispositions and non-core items. Actual results may be affected by items described under Forward-Looking Statements below.

First Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Updated Presentation
The first quarter conference call may be accessed at 10:00 a.m. ET today by telephone at 877-407-8029. An updated presentation highlighting the first quarter results has been added to www.lithiainvestorrelations.com .

To listen live on our website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com and click on webcasts.

About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Lithia sells 30 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles at 130 stores in 14 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
www.lithiacareers.com

Lithia Motors on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors

Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "Safe-Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding our goals, plans, projections and guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, pending and potential future acquisitions and business strategy, and often contain words such as "project," "outlook," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "may," "seek," "would," "should," "likely," "goal," "strategy," "future," "maintain," "continue," "remain," "target" or "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements regarding:
•Future market conditions;
•Expected operating results, such as improved store performance; maintaining incremental throughput between 45% and 50%; continued improvement of SG&A as a percentage of gross profit; generating second quarter earnings per share of $1.58 to 1.62 per diluted share and 2015 full year earnings of $6.20 to $6.30 per diluted share; and all projections set forth under the headings "2015 Outlook," "Continuing Operations Projections" and "Same Store Projections";
•The increase in our annual revenues that we estimate will result from the dealership that we opened as set forth under the heading "Corporate Development";
•Anticipated continued success, integration and growth of DCH;
•Anticipated ability to capture additional market share; ability to find accretive acquisitions; and additions of dealership locations to the company's portfolio in the future;
•Anticipated availability of liquidity from our unfinanced operating real estate; and
•Anticipated levels of capital expenditures in the future.



By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated or projected results include, without limitation, future economic and financial conditions (both nationally and locally), changes in customer demand, our relationship with, and the financial and operational stability of, vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, risks associated with our indebtedness (including available borrowing capacity, compliance with financial covenants and ability to refinance or repay indebtedness on favorable terms), government regulations, legislation and others set forth throughout Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. We urge you to carefully consider this information and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update our forward-looking statements, including our earnings outlook, which are made as of the date of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the attached financial tables contain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of revenues and gross profit, adjusted operating margin, adjusted operating profit as a percentage of gross profit, and adjusted pre-tax margin. Non-GAAP measures do not have definitions under GAAP and may be defined differently by and not comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, we review any non-GAAP financial measures in connection with a review of the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We caution you not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP measures, but also to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We present cash flows from operations in the attached tables, adjusted to include the change in non-trade floor plan debt to improve the visibility of cash flows related to vehicle financing. As required by SEC rules, we have reconciled these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the attachments to this release. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures we present improve the transparency of our disclosures; provide a meaningful presentation of our results from core business operations, because they exclude items not related to core business operations and other non-cash items; and improve the period-to-period comparability of our results from core business operations. These presentations should not be considered an alternative to GAAP measures.



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Three months ended %
March 31, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 1,007,816 $ 579,522 $ 428,294 74.0 %
Used vehicle retail 462,931 301,893 161,038 53.3
Used vehicle wholesale 62,208 42,693 19,515 45.7
Finance and insurance 64,604 39,631 24,973 63.0
Service, body and parts 173,475 104,617 68,858 65.8
Fleet and other 18,144 9,750 8,394 86.1
Total revenues 1,789,178 1,078,106 711,072 66.0
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 946,042 540,498 405,544 75.0
Used vehicle retail 403,489 261,097 142,392 54.5
Used vehicle wholesale 60,047 41,362 18,685 45.2
Service, body and parts 89,036 53,785 35,251 65.5
Fleet and other 17,189 9,303 7,886 84.8
Total cost of sales 1,515,803 906,045 609,758 67.3
Gross profit 273,375 172,061 101,314 58.9
Asset impairments 4,130 - - NM
SG&A expense 191,618 121,829 69,789 57.3
Depreciation and amortization 9,726 5,507 4,219 76.6
Income from operations 67,901 44,725 23,176 51.8
Floor plan interest expense (4,649 ) (2,984 ) 1665 55.8
Other interest expense (4,828 ) (1,974 ) (2,854 ) 144.6
Other income (expense), net (368 ) 937 (1,305 ) NM
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 58,056 40,704 17,352 42.6
Income tax expense (17,403 ) (16,010 ) 1,393 8.7
Income tax rate 30.0 % 39.3 %
Income from continuing operations $ 40,653 $ 24,694 $ 15,959 64.6 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax - 40 (40 ) NM
Net income $ 40,653 $ 24,734 $ 15,919 64.4 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 1.53 $ 0.94 $ 0.59 62.8 %
Discontinued operations - - - -
Net income per share $ 1.53 $ 0.94 $ 0.59 62.8 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,519 26,320 199 0.8 %


NM - Not meaningful




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
March 31, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.1 % 6.7 % (60) bps
Used vehicle retail 12.8 13.5 (70) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 3.5 3.1 40 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 48.7 48.6 10 bps
Fleet and other 5.3 4.6 70 bps
Gross profit margin 15.3 16.0 (70) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 30,623 17,274 13,349 77.3 %
Used vehicle retail 24,204 16,316 7,888 48.3
Total retail units sold 54,827 33,590 21,237 63.2
Used vehicle wholesale 9,144 5,853 3,291 56.2

Average selling price
New vehicle retail 32,910 33,549 (639 ) (1.9) %
Used vehicle retail 19,126 18,503 623 3.4
Used vehicle wholesale 6,803 7,294 (491 ) (6.7 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,017 $ 2,259 $ (242 ) (10.7) %
Used vehicle retail 2,456 2,500 (44 ) (1.8 )
Used vehicle wholesale 236 227 9 4.0
Finance and insurance 1,178 1,180 (2 ) (0.2 )
Total vehicle (1) 3,429 3,596 (167 ) (4.6 )

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 56.3 % 53.8 %
Used vehicle retail 25.9 28.0
Used vehicle wholesale 3.5 3.9
Finance and insurance, net 3.6 3.7
Service, body and parts 9.7 9.7
Fleet and other 1.0 0.9





Adjusted
As reported


Three months ended
March 31, Three months ended
March 31,
Other metrics 2015 2014 2015 2014
SG&A as a % of revenue 10.9 % 10.9 % 10.7 % 11.3 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 71.3 68.5 70.1 70.8
Operating profit as a % of revenue 3.8 4.5 3.8 4.1
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 25.1 28.3 24.8 26.0
Pretax margin 3.4 4.1 3.2 3.8
Net profit margin 2.1 2.5 2.3 2.3


(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail


null

Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
March 31, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 639,501 $ 574,540 $ 64,961 11.3 %
Used vehicle retail 333,300 300,115 33,185 11.1
Used vehicle wholesale 45,055 42,649 2,406 5.6
Finance and insurance 44,136 39,355 4,781 12.1
Service, body and parts 115,325 104,000 11,325 10.9
Fleet and other 12,302 9,750 2,552 26.2
Total revenues $ 1,189,619 $ 1,070,409 $ 119,210 11.1

Gross profit
New vehicle retail $ 40,245 $ 38,638 $ 1,607 4.2 %
Used vehicle retail 44,847 40,583 4,264 10.5
Used vehicle wholesale 1,687 1,334 353 26.5
Finance and insurance 44,136 39,355 4,781 12.1
Service, body and parts 55,844 50,514 5,330 10.6
Fleet and other 777 447 330 73.8
Total gross profit $ 187,536 $ 170,871 $ 16,665 9.8

Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.3 % 6.7 % (40) bps
Used vehicle retail 13.5 13.5 - bps
Used vehicle wholesale 3.7 3.1 60 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 48.4 48.6 (20) bps
Fleet and other 6.3 4.6 170 bps
Gross profit margin 15.8 16.0 (20) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 18,567 17,109 1,458 8.5 %
Used vehicle retail 17,237 16,204 1,033 6.4
Total retail units sold 35,804 33,313 2,491 7.5
Used vehicle wholesale 5,986 5,848 138 2.4

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 34,443 $ 33,581 $ 862 2.6 %
Used vehicle retail 19,336 18,521 815 4.4
Used vehicle wholesale 7,549 7,293 256 3.5

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,168 $ 2,258 $ (90 ) (4.0) %
Used vehicle retail 2,602 2,505 97 3.9
Used vehicle wholesale 283 228 55 24.1
Finance and insurance 1,233 1,181 52 4.4
Total vehicle(1) 3,656 3,599 57 1.6


(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Segment Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
March 31, Increase Increase
2015 2014 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
Domestic $ 691,404 $ 568,930 $ 122,474 21.5 %
Import 758,638 351,061 407,577 116.1
Luxury 336,922 158,611 178,311 112.4
Total segment revenues $ 1,786,964 $ 1,078,602 $ 708,362 65.7
Corporate and other 2,214 (496 ) 2,710 546.4
Total revenues $ 1,789,178 $ 1,078,106 $ 711,072 66.0

Segment Income(1)
Domestic $ 27,129 $ 22,421 $ 4,708 21.0 %
Import 16,100 9,265 6,835 73.8
Luxury 5,899 2,185 3,714 170.0
Total segment income $ 49,128 33,871 15,257 45.0
Corporate and other 8,928 6,833 2,095 30.7
Income from continuing operations before income taxes $ 58,056 $ 40,704 $ 17,352 42.6

(1) Segment income is defined as operating income less floor plan interest expense

Retail New Vehicle Unit Sales
Domestic 10,043 8,634 1,409 16.3 %
Import 16,774 7,139 9,635 135.0
Luxury 3,865 1,595 2,270 142.3
Total 30,682 17,368 13,314 76.7
Allocated to management (59 ) (94 ) (35 ) (37.2 )
Total retail new vehicle unit sales 30,623 17,274 13,349 77.3




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Other Highlights (Unaudited)

As of
March 31, December 31, March 31,
2015 2014 2014
Days Supply(1)
New vehicle inventory 62 62 69
Used vehicle inventory 49 53 46


(1) Days supply calculated based on current inventory levels, excluding in-transit vehicles, and a 30-day historical cost of sales level.




Financial covenants
Requirement As of March 31, 2014
Current ratio Not less than 1.10 to 1 1.21 to 1
Fixed charge coverage ratio Not less than 1.20 to 1 3.15 to 1
Leverage ratio Not more than 5.00 to 1 2.19 to 1
Funded debt restriction Not more than $600 million $417.4 million




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Other Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended
March 31,
2015 2014
New vehicle unit sales brand mix
Honda, Acura 21.9 % 7.8 %
Chrysler 19.1 29.5
Toyota 18.9 13.7
General Motors 8.9 14.0
Subaru 7.2 9.8
BMW, MINI 5.8 6.0
Ford 4.6 6.0
Nissan 4.0 3.8
Volkswagen, Audi 2.8 2.3
Hyundai 2.1 3.1
Mercedes 1.6 2.3
Kia 1.3 0.9
Lexus 1.2 -
Other 0.6 0.8

Three months ended
March 31,
2015 2014
Revenue geographic mix
California 22.2 % 13.3 %
Oregon 16.8 22.2
Texas 15.7 23.9
New Jersey 13.7 -
Montana 5.8 8.3
Washington 5.1 7.3
Alaska 5.1 6.7
Nevada 3.2 4.8
Idaho 3.1 4.7
Iowa 2.8 4.3
New York 2.7 -
North Dakota 1.5 2.2
Hawaii 1.4 0.7
New Mexico 0.9 1.6

As of April 22, 2015
Current store count mix # of stores % of total
Chrysler, Fiat 25 19.2 %
Honda, Acura 21 16.2
Toyota, Lexus 19 14.6
General Motors 16 12.3
BMW, MINI 11 8.5
Volkswagen, Audi 8 6.2
Nissan 6 4.6
Ford 6 4.6
Subaru 6 4.6
Hyundai 5 3.8
Mercedes 3 2.3
Other 4 3.1




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
(In thousands)

March 31, 2015 December 31, 2014
Cash and cash equivalents $ 21,023 $ 29,898
Trade receivables, net 290,638 295,379
Inventories, net 1,286,614 1,249,659
Other current assets 32,498 32,010
Assets held for sale 4,026 8,563
Total current assets $ 1,634,799 $ 1,615,509

Property and equipment, net 828,707 816,745
Goodwill 199,286 199,375
Franchise value 150,856 150,892
Other non-current assets 110,737 98,411
Total assets $ 2,924,385 $ 2,880,932

Floor plan notes payable $ 42,139 $ 41,047
Floor plan notes payable: non trade 1,113,428 1,137,632
Current maturities of long-term debt 40,543 31,912
Trade payables 76,517 70,853
Accrued liabilities 154,786 153,661
Deferred income taxes 3,140 2,603
Liabilities related to assets held for sale 2,688 4,892
Total current liabilities $ 1,433,241 $ 1,442,600

Long-term debt 621,890 609,066
Deferred revenue 56,849 54,403
Deferred income taxes 41,474 42,795
Other long-term liabilities 63,094 58,963
Total liabilities $ 2,216,548 $ 2,207,827

Class A common stock 272,625 276,058
Class B common stock 319 319
Additional paid-in capital 31,364 29,775
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (787 ) (926 )
Retained earnings 404,316 367,879
Total liabilities & stockholders' equity $ 2,924,385 $ 2,880,932




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Summarized Cash Flow from Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands)

Three months ended
March 31,
2015 2014
Net income $ 40,653 $ 24,734

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Asset impairment 4,130 -
Depreciation and amortization 9,726 5,507
Stock-based compensation 2,727 1,538
Loss on disposal of assets 8 20
Gain on sale of franchise (3,349 ) -
Deferred income taxes 3,863 1,866
Excess tax benefit from share-based payment arrangements (4,733 ) (5,846 )
(Increase) decrease:
Trade receivables, net 7,569 (12,259 )
Inventories (39,460 ) (56,748 )
Other assets (2,078 ) (2,290 )
Increase (decrease):
Floor plan notes payable, net 1,092 1,675
Trade payables 6,799 1,774
Accrued liabilities 4,444 12,521
Other long-term liabilities and deferred revenue 6,838 5,121
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ 38,229 $ (22,387 )




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow from Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands)

Three months ended
March 31,
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 2015 2014
As reported $ 38,229 $ (22,387 )
Floor plan notes payable, non-trade, net (21,984 ) 51,783
Borrowings on floor plan notes payable associated with acquired inventory - (19,525 )
Adjusted $ 16,245 $ 9,871




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
(In thousands, except for per share data)

Three Months Ended March 31, 2015
As reported Gain on sale of stores Equity Investment Adjusted
Asset impairments $ 4,130 $ - $ (4,130 ) $ -
Selling, general and administrative 191,618 3,349 - 194,967

Income from operations 67,901 (3,349 ) 4,130 68,682

Other income (expense) (368 ) - 1,732 1,364

Income from continuing operations before income taxes $ 58,056 $ (3,349 ) $ 5,862 $ 60,569
Income tax expense (17,403 ) 1,004 (7,250 ) (23,649 )
Net income from continuing operations $ 40,653 $ (2,345 ) $ (1,388 ) $ 36,920

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 1.53 $ (0.09 ) $ (0.05 ) $ 1.39
Diluted share count 26,519




Three Months Ended March 31, 2014
As reported Reserve adjustments Adjusted
Selling, general and administrative 121,829 (3,931 ) 117,898

Income from operations 44,725 3,931 48,656

Income from continuing operations before income taxes $ 40,704 $ 3,931 $ 44,635
Income tax expense (16,010 ) (1,546 ) (17,556 )
Net income from continuing operations $ 24,694 $ 2,385 $ 27,079

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 0.94 $ 0.09 $ 1.03
Diluted share count 26,320








Contact:


John North
VP Finance and Chief Accounting Officer
(541) 618-5748

Lithia Motors Reports Adjusted EPS of $0.98 for Fourth Quarter 2013 and $3.99 for Full Year 2013
Lithia Motors Declares $0.13 per Share Dividend for Fourth Quarter 2013
Marketwired Lithia Motors
February 19, 2014 7:29 AM
MEDFORD, OR--(Marketwired - Feb 19, 2014) - Lithia Motors, Inc. ( NYSE : LAD ) reported the highest fourth quarter adjusted net income in Company history and increased adjusted net income from continuing operations 33% for the fourth quarter 2013 over the prior year period.

2013 fourth quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations was $25.7 million, or $0.98 per diluted share. This compares to 2012 fourth quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations of $19.3 million, or $0.74 per diluted share.

Unadjusted net income from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $27.2 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, compared to $19.7 million or $0.76 per diluted share for 2012. As shown in the attached non-GAAP reconciliation tables, the 2013 fourth quarter adjusted income from continuing operations is reduced to exclude a benefit of $0.06 per share for a gain on a sale of land and a $0.05 per share net benefit from non-core tax attributes, offset by a non-core charge of $0.06 per share related to an adjustment to a legal reserve associated with a lawsuit filed in 2006 and settled in 2013. The 2012 fourth quarter adjusted results from continuing operations exclude a benefit of $0.02 per share for a non-core tax attribute.

Fourth quarter 2013 revenue from continuing operations increased $147.5 million, or 17%, to $1.0 billion from $877.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Fourth Quarter-over-Quarter Operating Highlights:

Total same store sales increased 11%
New vehicle same store sales increased 11%
Used vehicle retail same store sales increased 16%
Service, body and parts same store sales increased 8%
Adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit decreased 200 basis points to 68.2%
For the full year of 2013, revenue from continuing operations increased 21% to $4.0 billion from $3.3 billion in 2012.

Full Year-over-Year Operating Highlights:

Total same store sales increased 15%
New vehicle same store sales increased 16%
Used vehicle retail same store sales increased 18%
Service, body and parts same store sales increased 7%
Adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit decreased 220 basis points to 67.2%
"For the third consecutive quarter, we exceeded $1.0 billion in revenue," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "We also exceeded $4.0 billion in annual revenue for the first time in Company history. We grew same store revenue 15% in 2013, on top of total same store revenue increases of 23% in 2012, 22% in 2011 and 18% in 2010. We've been able to maintain cost discipline over the last four years of growth, resulting in expanding operating margin each year. Our store leaders continue to challenge their teams to improve store performance while earning customers for life. Significant opportunities remain to increase used car sales and to capture the coming wave of service work from greater vehicle sales volumes over the last few years."

For the full year of 2013, adjusted net income per diluted share from continuing operations increased 35% to $3.99 from $2.96 for the full year of 2012. Unadjusted, net income from continuing operations was $4.02 per diluted share for the full year of 2013, compared to $3.03 per diluted share for the full year of 2012.

Chris Holzshu, SVP and CFO, said, "We finished 2013 with full year adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit of 67.2%. This is a record result for the company and is 220 basis points lower than our full year 2012 SG&A expense. For the full year, incremental throughput, or the percentage of additional same store gross profit dollars that we retain after deducting selling costs, was 51.4%. Our stores remain focused on maintaining incremental throughput above 50%, which can continue to lever our SG&A expense going forward."

Corporate Development
In October 2013, we acquired Stockton Nissan Kia in Stockton, California and Fresno Lincoln Volvo in Fresno, California. In November 2013, we acquired Lodi Toyota Scion in Lodi, California. In December 2013, we acquired Diablo Subaru of Walnut Creek, in Walnut Creek, California. The combined estimated annual revenues for these acquisitions is $150 million.

In February 2014, we acquired Island Honda in Kahului, Hawaii, and Stockton Volkswagen in Stockton, California. The combined estimated annual revenues for these acquisitions is $50 million

Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO, stated, "The pace of acquisitions accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2013 as we completed the purchase of four additional locations. For the full year 2013, we acquired seven stores and 2014 is off to a strong start with our first acquisition in the state of Hawaii and an additional store increasing our footprint in northern California. We believe the acquisition market remains active and anticipate 2014 will be a productive year for Lithia to grow our network of stores."

Balance Sheet Update
We ended the fourth quarter with $24 million in cash and $160 million in available credit on our credit facilities. Additionally, approximately $181 million of our operating real estate is currently unfinanced, which we estimate could provide up to an additional $136 million in available liquidity, for total liquidity of $320 million.

During the fourth quarter, we amended our syndicated credit facility, increasing the capacity by $200 million to $1.0 billion in total availability. The amendment increased the number of participants from 10 to 13, including six banks and seven captive finance companies. The amendment also reduced the interest rate and non-use fees on the facility, provided the ability to upsize the overall capacity to $1.25 billion and extended the maturity date to December 2018.

Dividend Payment
Lithia announced that the Board of Directors has approved a dividend of $0.13 per share related to fourth quarter 2013 financial results. Lithia will pay the dividend March 21, 2014 to shareholders of record on March 7, 2014.

Outlook for 2014
We project 2014 first quarter earnings of $0.92 to $0.94 per diluted share and full-year 2014 earnings of $4.30 to $4.40 per diluted share. These projections are based on the following annual assumptions about 2014 performance:

Total revenues of $4.5 to $4.6 billion
New vehicle same store sales increasing 8.0%
New vehicle gross margin of 6.4% to 6.6%
Used vehicle same store sales increasing 8.0%
Used vehicle gross margin of 14.5% to 14.7%
Service body and parts same store sales increasing 7.0%
Service body and parts gross margin of 48.2% to 48.4%
Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,125 per unit
Tax rate of 39.5%
Average diluted shares outstanding of 26.2 million
Capital expenditures of $84 million
These projections exclude the impact of future acquisitions, dispositions and non-core items. Actual results may be affected by items described in the Forward-Looking statements below.

Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Updated Presentation
The fourth quarter conference call may be accessed at 10:00 a.m. ET today by telephone at 877-407-8029. An updated presentation highlighting the fourth quarter results has been added to www.lithiainvestorrelations.com .

To listen live on our website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com and click on webcasts.

About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is the ninth largest automotive retailer in the United States. Lithia sells 28 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles at 96 stores in 12 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
www.lithiacareers.com
www.assuredservice.com

Lithia Motors on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors

Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "Safe-Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding our goals, plans, projections and guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, pending and potential future acquisitions and business strategy, and often contain words such as "project," "outlook," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "may," "seek," "would," "should," "likely," "goal," "strategy," "future," "maintain" or "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements we make regarding:

Expected operating results, such as improved store performance, maintaining incremental throughput above 50%, strategy for customer retention, growth and financial results and all projections set forth under the heading "Outlook for 2014";
Anticipated acquisitions in 2014 and
Anticipated availability of liquidity from our unfinanced operating real estate.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industries in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated or projected results include, without limitation, future economic and financial conditions (both nationally and locally), changes in customer demand, our relationship with, and the financial and operational stability of, vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, risks associated with our indebtedness (including available borrowing capacity, compliance with financial covenants and ability to refinance or repay indebtedness on favorable terms), government regulations, legislation and others set forth throughout Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. We urge you to carefully consider this information and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update our forward-looking statements, including our earnings outlook, which are made as of the date of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the attached financial tables contain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of revenues and gross profit, adjusted operating margin, adjusted operating profit as a percentage of gross profit, and adjusted pre-tax margin. Non-GAAP measures do not have definitions under GAAP and may be defined differently by and not comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, we review any non-GAAP financial measures in connection with a review of the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We caution you not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP measures, but also to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We present cash flows from operations in the attached tables, adjusted to include the change in non-trade floor plan debt to improve the visibility of cash flows related to vehicle financing. As required by SEC rules, we have reconciled these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the attachments to this release. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures we present improve the transparency of our disclosures; provide a meaningful presentation of our results from core business operations, because they exclude items not related to core business operations and other non-cash items; and improve the period-to-period comparability of our results from core business operations. These presentations should not be considered an alternative to GAAP measures.

...

Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Three months ended %
December 31, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 589,535 $ 506,871 $ 82,664 16.3 %
Used vehicle retail 253,797 208,367 45,430 21.8
Used vehicle wholesale 37,642 35,768 1,874 5.2
Finance and insurance 35,994 29,244 6,750 23.1
Service, body and parts 100,797 89,665 11,132 12.4
Fleet and other 7,109 7,458 (349 ) (4.7 )
Total revenues 1,024,874 877,373 147,501 16.8
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 550,438 471,336 79,102 16.8
Used vehicle retail 218,446 179,186 39,260 21.9
Used vehicle wholesale 37,310 35,011 2,299 6.6
Service, body and parts 52,690 46,409 6,281 13.5
Fleet and other 6,697 7,071 (374 ) (5.3 )
Total cost of sales 865,581 739,013 126,568 17.1
Gross profit 159,293 138,360 20,933 15.1
SG&A expense 108,416 97,126 11,290 11.6
Depreciation and amortization 5,316 4,441 875 19.7
Income from operations 45,561 36,793 8,769 23.8
Floor plan interest expense (2,979 ) (3,490 ) (511 ) (14.6 )
Other interest expense (2,115 ) (2,239 ) (124 ) (5.5 )
Other income, net 773 754 19 2.4
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 41,240 31,818 9,422 29.6
Income tax expense (14,080 ) (12,154 ) 1,926 15.8
Income tax rate 34.1 % 38.2 %
Income from continuing operations $ 27,160 $ 19,664 $ 7,496 38.1 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax 212 169 43 26.2
Net income $ 27,372 $ 19,833 $ 7,539 38.0 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 1.03 $ 0.76 $ 0.27 35.5 %
Discontinued operations 0.01 - 0.01 NM
Net income per share $ 1.04 $ 0.76 $ 0.28 36.8 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,283 26,068 215 0.8 %

NM - not meaningful



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
December 31, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.6 % 7.0 % (40) bps
Used vehicle retail 13.9 14.0 (10) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 0.9 2.1 (120) bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 47.7 48.2 (50) bps
Fleet and Other 5.8 5.2 60 bps
Gross profit margin 15.5 15.8 (30) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 17,004 14,713 2,291 15.6 %
Used vehicle retail 13,830 11,943 1,887 15.8
Total retail units sold 30,834 26,656 4,178 15.7
Used vehicle wholesale 5,462 5,009 453 9.0

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 34,670 $ 34,451 $ 219 0.6 %
Used vehicle retail 18,351 17,447 904 5.2
Used vehicle wholesale 6,892 7,141 (249 ) (3.5 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,299 $ 2,415 $ (116 ) (4.8 )%
Used vehicle retail 2,556 2,443 113 4.6
Used vehicle wholesale 61 151 (90 ) (59.6 )
Finance and insurance 1,167 1,097 70 6.4
Total vehicle(1) 3,593 3,553 40 1.1

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 57.5 % 57.8 %
Used vehicle retail 24.8 23.7
Used vehicle wholesale 3.7 4.1
Finance and insurance, net 3.5 3.3
Service, body and parts 9.8 10.2
Fleet and other 0.7 0.9

Adjusted As reported
Three months ended
December 31, Three months ended
December 31,
Other metrics 2013 2012 2013 2012
SG&A as a % of revenue 10.6 % 11.1 % 10.6 % 11.1 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 68.2 70.2 68.1 70.2
Operating profit as a % of revenue 4.4 4.2 4.4 4.2
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 28.5 26.6 28.6 26.6
Pretax margin 4.0 3.6 4.0 3.6
Net profit margin 2.5 2.2 2.7 2.2

NM - not meaningful
(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

Three months ended %
December 31, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 562,622 $ 509,086 $ 53,536 10.5 %
Used vehicle retail 242,049 208,356 33,693 16.2
Used vehicle wholesale 36,462 35,731 731 2.0
Finance and insurance 34,289 29,271 5,018 17.1
Service, body and parts 96,659 89,619 7,040 7.9
Fleet and other 7,001 7,314 (313 ) (4.3 )
Total revenues $ 979,082 $ 879,377 $ 99,705 11.3

Gross profit
New vehicle retail $ 37,376 $ 35,420 $ 1,956 5.5 %
Used vehicle retail 33,761 29,196 4,565 15.6
Used vehicle wholesale 352 673 (321 ) (47.7 )
Finance and insurance 34,289 29,271 5,018 17.1
Service, body and parts 45,460 42,535 2,925 6.9
Fleet and other 304 243 61 25.1
Total gross profit $ 151,542 $ 137,338 $ 14,204 10.3

Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.6 % 7.0 % (40) bps
Used vehicle retail 13.9 14.0 (10) bps
Used vehicle wholesale 1.0 1.9 (90) bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 47.0 47.5 (50) bps
Fleet and Other 4.3 3.3 100 bps
Gross profit margin 15.5 15.6 (10) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 16,078 14,774 1,304 8.8 %
Used vehicle retail 13,137 11,941 1,196 10.0
Total retail units sold 29,215 26,715 2,500 9.4
Used vehicle wholesale 5,271 5,006 265 5.3

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 34,993 $ 34,458 $ 535 1.6 %
Used vehicle retail 18,425 17,449 976 5.6
Used vehicle wholesale 6,917 7,138 (221 ) (3.1 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,325 $ 2,397 $ (72 ) (3.0 )%
Used vehicle retail 2,570 2,445 125 5.1
Used vehicle wholesale 67 134 (67 ) (50.0 )
Finance and insurance 1,174 1,096 78 7.1
Total vehicle(1) 3,621 3,540 81 2.3

(1) - includes the sales and gross profit related to new, used retail, used wholesale and finance and insurance and unit sales for new and used retail



Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)

Twelve months ended %
December 31, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 2,256,598 $ 1,847,603 $ 408,995 22.1 %
Used vehicle retail 1,032,224 833,484 198,740 23.8
Used vehicle wholesale 158,235 139,237 18,998 13.6
Finance and insurance 139,007 112,234 26,773 23.9
Service, body and parts 383,483 347,703 35,780 10.3
Fleet and other 36,202 36,226 (24 ) (0.1 )
Total revenues 4,005,749 3,316,487 689,262 20.8
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 2,105,480 1,713,156 392,324 22.9
Used vehicle retail 881,366 711,763 169,603 23.8
Used vehicle wholesale 155,524 137,823 17,701 12.8
Service, body and parts 197,913 179,633 18,280 10.2
Fleet and other 34,513 34,812 (299 ) (0.9 )
Total cost of sales 3,374,796 2,777,187 597,609 21.5
Gross profit 630,953 539,300 91,653 17.0
Asset impairments - 115 (115 ) (100.0 )
SG&A expense 427,400 373,688 53,712 14.4
Depreciation and amortization 20,035 17,128 2,907 17.0
Income from operations 183,518 148,369 35,149 23.7
Floor plan interest expense (12,373 ) (12,816 ) (443 ) (3.5 )
Other interest expense (8,350 ) (9,621 ) (1,271 ) (13.2 )
Other income, net 2,993 2,525 468 18.5
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 165,788 128,457 37,331 29.1
Income tax expense (60,574 ) (49,062 ) 11,512 23.5
Income tax rate 36.5 % 38.2 %
Income from continuing operations $ 105,214 $ 79,395 $ 25,819 32.5 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax 786 967 (181 ) (18.7 )
Net income $ 106,000 $ 80,362 $ 25,638 31.9 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 4.02 $ 3.03 $ 0.99 32.7 %
Discontinued operations 0.03 0.04 (0.01 ) (25.0 )
Net income per share $ 4.05 $ 3.07 $ 0.98 31.9 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,191 26,170 21 0.1 %



...
Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)

Twelve months ended %
December 31, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.7 % 7.3 % (60) bps
Used vehicle retail 14.6 14.6 - bps
Used vehicle wholesale 1.7 1.0 70 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 48.4 48.3 10 bps
Fleet and Other 4.7 3.9 80 bps
Gross profit margin 15.8 16.3 (50) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 66,857 55,666 11,191 20.1 %
Used vehicle retail 57,061 47,965 9,096 19.0
Total retail units sold 123,918 103,631 20,287 19.6
Used vehicle wholesale 22,086 19,144 2,942 15.4

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 33,753 $ 33,191 $ 562 1.7 %
Used vehicle retail 18,090 17,377 713 4.1
Used vehicle wholesale 7,164 7,273 (109 ) (1.5 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,260 $ 2,415 $ (155 ) (6.4 )%
Used vehicle retail 2,644 2,538 106 4.2
Used vehicle wholesale 123 74 49 66.2
Finance and insurance 1,122 1,083 39 3.6
Total vehicle(1) 3,581 3,569 12 0.3

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 56.3 % 55.7 %
Contact:

John North
VP Finance and Controller
(541) 618-5748

Lithia Schedules Release of Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results
Marketwired Lithia Motors
January 16, 2014 7:14 AM
MEDFORD, OR--(Marketwired - Jan 16, 2014) - Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) announced its fourth quarter and full year 2013 earnings will be released before the market opens on Wednesday, February 19, 2014. A conference call to discuss the earnings results is scheduled for the same day at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

How to Participate
The conference call may be accessed by telephone at (877) 407-8029. To listen live on our website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com and click on webcasts.

About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is the ninth largest automotive retailer in the United States. Lithia sells 28 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles at 94 stores in 11 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiacareers.com
www.assuredservice.com

Lithia Motors on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors

Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors

Contact:

John North
VP Finance and Controller
(541) 618-5748

Lithia Motors Reports Adjusted EPS of $1.13 for Third Quarter 2013, Revenue Up 22%; Increases 2013 Outlook

Lithia Motors Declares $0.13 per Share Dividend for Third Quarter 2013

MEDFORD, OR--(Marketwired - Oct 23, 2013) - Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) today reported the highest quarterly adjusted net income from continuing operations in Company history, and a 27% increase in adjusted net income per share from continuing operations for the third quarter 2013 over the prior year period.

Adjusted income from continuing operations for the third quarter 2013 was $29.6 million, or $1.13 per diluted share. This compares to 2012 third quarter income from continuing operations of $23.1 million, or $0.89 per diluted share.

Unadjusted net income from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2013 was $30.9 million, or $1.18 per diluted share. As shown in the attached non-GAAP reconciliation tables, the 2013 third quarter adjusted results from continuing operations exclude a $1.3 million benefit, or $0.05 per diluted share, related to a non-core tax attribute. We did not have any adjustments to the 2012 third quarter results from continuing operations.

Third quarter 2013 revenue from continuing operations increased $190.8 million, or 22%, to $1.1 billion from $878.5 million in the third quarter of 2012.

Third Quarter-over-Quarter Operating Highlights:
•New vehicle same store sales increased 16%
•Used vehicle retail same store sales increased 17%
•Service, body and parts same store sales increased 6%
•SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit decreased 120 basis points to 65.6%

"Our stores delivered another solid quarter of sales growth that outpaced the national rate of recovery," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "However, opportunities continue to exist for our team to improve new and used vehicle sales volumes and new vehicle gross margin levels. Our focus is on capturing the benefit of additional unit sales for future business -- both through the sale of trade-in vehicles, incremental F&I income and the annuity value of future service work on vehicles sold today."

For the first nine months of 2013, adjusted net income per diluted share from continuing operations increased 36% to $3.02 from $2.22 for the first nine months of 2012. Unadjusted, net income from continuing operations was $2.98 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2013, compared to $2.28 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2012.

Chris Holzshu, SVP and CFO, said, "Adjusted SG&A expense as a percentage of gross profit was a record low 65.6% in the quarter, and 66.8% for the first nine months of 2013. Our same store incremental throughput, or the percentage of additional gross profit we retain after selling costs, was 41% in the third quarter. Our target of 50% incremental throughput remains unchanged, and we believe it is achievable despite the shortfall in the quarter. Our stores remain focused on leveraging our cost structure as we grow organically and through acquisitions."

Corporate Development
On October 7, 2013, we acquired Stockton Nissan Kia in Stockton, California, with estimated annualized revenues of $45 million.

Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO, stated, "We are pleased to add another store to the family, bringing the total number of new locations in 2013 to five. As the improvement in new vehicle sales growth moderates, acquisitions will become an increasingly important component in our strategic plan."

Balance Sheet Update
We ended the third quarter with $16 million in cash and $165 million in available credit on our credit facilities. Additionally, approximately $160 million of our operating real estate is currently unfinanced, which we estimate could provide up to an additional $120 million in available liquidity, for total liquidity of $301 million.

Dividend Payment
Lithia announced that the Board of Directors has approved a dividend of $0.13 per share related to third quarter 2013 financial results. Lithia will pay the dividend November 22, 2013 to shareholders of record on November 8, 2013.

Increased Outlook for 2013
We project 2013 fourth quarter earnings of $0.88 to $0.90 per diluted share and full year 2013 earnings of $3.90 to $3.92 per diluted share. Both projections are based on the following annual assumptions:
•Total revenues of $3.9 to $4.0 billion
•New vehicle same store sales increasing 16.6%
•New vehicle gross margin of 6.4% to 6.6%
•Used vehicle same store sales increasing 17.2%
•Used vehicle gross margin of 14.6% to 14.8%
•Service body and parts same store sales increasing 6.3%
•Service body and parts gross margin of 48.3% to 48.5%
•Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,100 per unit
•Tax rate of 39.5%
•Average diluted shares outstanding of 26.2 million
•Capital expenditures of $55 million
•Guidance excludes the impact of future acquisitions, dispositions, and any potential non-core items

Outlook for 2014
We project 2014 first quarter earnings of $0.91 to $0.93 per diluted share and full-year 2014 earnings of $4.15 to $4.25 per diluted share. Both projections are based on the following annual assumptions:
•Total revenues of $4.3 to $4.4 billion
•New vehicle same store sales increasing 8.2%
•New vehicle gross margin of 6.2% to 6.4%
•Used vehicle same store sales increasing 7.6%
•Used vehicle gross margin of 14.5% to 14.7%
•Service body and parts same store sales increasing 6.0%
•Service body and parts gross margin of 48.0% to 48.2%
•Finance and insurance gross profit of $1,100 per unit
•Tax rate of 39.5%
•Average diluted shares outstanding of 26.4 million
•Capital expenditures of $63 million
•Guidance excludes the impact of future acquisitions, dispositions, and any potential non-core items

Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Updated Presentation
The third quarter conference call may be accessed at 10:00 a.m. ET today by telephone at 877-407-8029. An updated presentation highlighting the third quarter results has been added to www.lithiainvestorrelations.com.

To listen live on our website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com and click on webcasts.

About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is the ninth largest automotive retailer in the United States. Lithia sells 27 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles at 92 stores in 11 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
www.lithiacareers.com
www.assuredservice.com

Lithia Motors on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors

Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "Safe-Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding our goals, plans, projections and guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, pending and potential future acquisitions and business strategy, and often contain words such as "project," "outlook," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "may," "seek," "would," "should," "likely," or "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include our outlook of earnings per share results and the assumptions that underlie them.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industries in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated or projected results include without limitation, future economic and financial conditions (both nationally and locally), changes in customer demand, our relationship with, and the financial and operational stability of, vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, risks associated with our indebtedness (including available borrowing capacity, compliance with financial covenants and ability to refinance or repay indebtedness on favorable terms), government regulations, legislation and others set forth from time to time in our filings with the SEC. We urge you to carefully consider this information and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update our forward-looking statements, including our earnings outlook, which are made as of the date of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the attached financial tables contain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of revenues and gross profit, adjusted operating margin, adjusted operating profit as a percentage of gross profit, and adjusted pre-tax margin. Non-GAAP measures do not have definitions under GAAP and may be defined differently by and not comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, we review any non-GAAP financial measures in connection with a review of the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We caution you not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP measures, but also to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We present cash flows from operations in the attached tables, adjusted to include the change in non-trade floor plan debt to improve the visibility of cash flows related to vehicle financing. As required by SEC rules, we have reconciled these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the attachments to this release. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures we present improve the transparency of our disclosures; provide a meaningful presentation of our results from core business operations, because they exclude items not related to core business operations and other non-cash items; and improve the period-to-period comparability of our results from core business operations. These presentations should not be considered an alternative to GAAP measures.

Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)


Three months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 604,135 $ 491,846 $ 112,289 22.8 %
Used vehicle retail 280,734 227,157 53,577 23.6
Used vehicle wholesale 43,396 35,006 8,390 24.0
Finance and insurance 37,132 30,929 6,203 20.1
Service, body and parts 97,784 89,038 8,746 9.8
Fleet and other 6,109 4,550 1,559 34.3
Total revenues 1,069,290 878,526 190,764 21.7
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 565,549 456,753 108,796 23.8
Used vehicle retail 239,093 193,885 45,208 23.3
Used vehicle wholesale 42,686 35,042 7,644 21.8
Service, body and parts 50,793 46,033 4,760 10.3
Fleet and other 5,780 4,303 1,477 34.3
Total cost of sales 903,901 736,016 167,885 22.8
Gross profit 165,389 142,510 22,879 16.1
SG&A expense 108,570 95,132 13,438 14.1
Depreciation and amortization 5,099 4,351 748 17.2
Income from operations 51,720 43,027 8,693 20.2
Floor plan interest expense (2,909 ) (3,370 ) (461 ) (13.7 )
Other interest expense (1,933 ) (2,125 ) (192 ) (9.0 )
Other income, net 835 453 382 84.3
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 47,713 37,985 9,728 25.6
Income tax expense (16,822 ) (14,893 ) 1,929 13.0
Income tax rate 35.3 % 39.2 %
Income from continuing operations $ 30,891 $ 23,092 $ 7,799 33.8 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax 127 151 (24 ) (15.9 )
Net income $ 31,018 $ 23,243 $ 7,775 33.5 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 1.18 $ 0.89 $ 0.29 32.6 %
Discontinued operations - 0.01 (0.01 ) (100.0 )
Net income per share $ 1.18 $ 0.90 $ 0.28 31.1 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,237 25,947 290 1.1 %




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)


Three months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.4 % 7.1 % (70) bps
Used vehicle retail 14.8 14.6 20 bps
Used vehicle wholesale 1.6 (0.1 ) 170 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 48.1 48.3 (20) bps
Fleet and Other 5.4 5.4 - bps
Gross profit margin 15.5 16.2 (70) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 18,109 14,841 3,268 22.0 %
Used vehicle retail 15,496 13,211 2,285 17.3
Used vehicle wholesale 6,059 5,142 917 17.8
Total units sold 39,664 33,194 6,470 19.5

Average selling price
New vehicle retail 33,361 $ 33,141 $ 220 0.7 %
Used vehicle retail 18,117 17,195 922 5.4
Used vehicle wholesale 7,162 6,808 354 5.2

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail 2,131 $ 2,365 $ (234 ) (9.9) %
Used vehicle retail 2,687 2,519 168 6.7
Used vehicle wholesale 117 (7 ) 124 NM
Finance and insurance 1,105 1,103 2 0.2

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 56.5 % 56.0 %
Used vehicle retail 26.3 25.9
Used vehicle wholesale 4.1 4.0
Finance and insurance, net 3.5 3.5
Service, body and parts 9.1 10.1
Fleet and other 0.5 0.5




Adjusted As reported


Three months ended
September 30, Three months ended
September 30,
Other metrics 2013 2012 2013 2012
SG&A as a % of revenue 10.2 % 10.8 % 10.2 % 10.8 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 65.6 66.8 65.6 66.8
Operating profit as a % of revenue 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.9
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 31.3 30.2 31.3 30.2
Pretax margin 4.5 4.3 4.5 4.3
Net profit margin 2.8 2.6 2.9 2.6

NM - not meaningful




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)


Three months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 569,744 $ 492,063 $ 77,681 15.8 %
Used vehicle retail 265,734 227,311 38,423 16.9
Used vehicle wholesale 41,371 35,084 6,287 17.9
Finance and insurance 35,110 30,003 5,107 17.0
Service, body and parts 93,938 88,989 4,949 5.6
Fleet and other 5,997 4,397 1,600 36.4
Total revenues $ 1,011,894 $ 877,847 $ 134,047 15.3

Gross profit
New vehicle retail $ 35,995 $ 35,107 $ 888 2.5 %
Used vehicle retail 39,766 33,312 6,454 19.4
Used vehicle wholesale 642 (32 ) 674 NM
Finance and insurance 35,110 30,003 5,107 17.0
Service, body and parts 44,281 42,034 2,247 5.3
Fleet and other 209 96 113 117.7
Total gross profit $ 156,003 $ 140,520 $ 15,483 11.0

Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.3 % 7.1 % (80) bps
Used vehicle retail 15.0 14.7 30 bps
Used vehicle wholesale 1.6 (0.1 ) 170 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 47.1 47.2 (10) bps
Fleet and Other 3.5 2.2 130 bps
Gross profit margin 15.4 16.0 (60) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 17,048 14,846 2,202 14.8 %
Used vehicle retail 14,690 13,223 1,467 11.1
Used vehicle wholesale 5,783 5,148 635 12.3
Total units sold 37,521 33,217 4,304 13.0

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 33,420 $ 33,144 $ 276 0.8 %
Used vehicle retail 18,089 17,191 898 5.2
Used vehicle wholesale 7,154 6,815 339 5.0

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,111 $ 2,365 $ (254 ) (10.7) %
Used vehicle retail 2,707 2,519 188 7.5
Used vehicle wholesale 111 (6 ) 117 NM
Finance and insurance 1,106 1,069 37 3.5




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except per share data)


Nine months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues:
New vehicle retail $ 1,667,063 $ 1,340,731 $ 326,332 24.3 %
Used vehicle retail 778,427 625,117 153,310 24.5
Used vehicle wholesale 120,593 103,469 17,124 16.5
Finance and insurance 103,013 82,989 20,024 24.1
Service, body and parts 282,686 258,038 24,648 9.6
Fleet and other 29,093 28,770 323 1.1
Total revenues 2,980,875 2,439,114 541,761 22.2
Cost of sales:
New vehicle retail 1,555,042 1,241,820 313,222 25.2
Used vehicle retail 662,920 532,577 130,343 24.5
Used vehicle wholesale 118,214 102,812 15,402 15.0
Service, body and parts 145,223 133,224 11,999 9.0
Fleet and other 27,816 27,741 75 0.3
Total cost of sales 2,509,215 2,038,174 471,041 23.1
Gross profit 471,660 400,940 70,720 17.6
Asset impairments - 115 (115 ) (100.0 )
SG&A expense 318,984 276,561 42,423 15.3
Depreciation and amortization 14,719 12,687 2,032 16.0
Income from operations 137,957 111,577 26,380 23.6
Floor plan interest expense (9,394 ) (9,326 ) 68 0.7
Other interest expense (6,235 ) (7,382 ) (1,147 ) (15.5 )
Other income, net 2,220 1,770 450 25.4
Income from continuing operations before income taxes 124,548 96,639 27,909 28.9
Income tax expense (46,494 ) (36,908 ) 9,586 26.0
Income tax rate 37.3 % 38.2 %
Income from continuing operations $ 78,054 $ 59,731 $ 18,323 30.7 %
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax 574 799 (225 ) (28.2 )
Net income $ 78,628 $ 60,530 $ 18,098 29.9 %

Diluted net income per share:
Continuing operations $ 2.98 $ 2.28 $ 0.70 30.7 %
Discontinued operations 0.03 0.03 - -
Net income per share $ 3.01 $ 2.31 $ 0.70 30.3 %

Diluted shares outstanding 26,159 26,203 (44 ) (0.2) %




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Key Performance Metrics (Unaudited)


Nine months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.7 % 7.4 % (70) bps
Used vehicle retail 14.8 14.8 - bps
Used vehicle wholesale 2.0 0.6 140 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 48.6 48.4 20 bps
Fleet and Other 4.4 3.6 80 bps
Gross profit margin 15.8 16.4 (60) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 49,853 40,953 8,900 21.7 %
Used vehicle retail 43,231 36,022 7,209 20.0
Used vehicle wholesale 16,624 14,135 2,489 17.6
Total units sold 109,708 91,110 18,598 20.4
...
Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 33,440 $ 32,738 $ 702 2.1 %
Used vehicle retail 18,006 17,354 652 3.8
Used vehicle wholesale 7,254 7,320 (66 ) (0.9 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,247 $ 2,415 $ (168 ) (7.0 )%
Used vehicle retail 2,672 2,569 103 4.0
Used vehicle wholesale 143 46 97 210.9
Finance and insurance 1,107 1,078 29 2.7

Revenue mix
New vehicle retail 55.9 % 55.0 %
Used vehicle retail 26.1 25.6
Used vehicle wholesale 4.0 4.2
Finance and insurance, net 3.5 3.4
Service, body and parts 9.5 10.6
Fleet and other 1.0 1.2




Adjusted As reported
Nine months ended
September 30, Nine months ended
September 30,
Other metrics 2013 2012 2013 2012
SG&A as a % of revenue 10.6 % 11.4 % 10.7 % 11.3 %
SG&A as a % of gross profit 66.8 69.2 67.6 69.0
Operating profit as a % of revenue 4.8 4.5 4.6 4.6
Operating profit as a % of gross profit 30.1 27.7 29.2 27.8
Pretax margin 4.3 3.9 4.2 4.0
Net profit margin 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.4




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Same Store Operating Highlights (Unaudited)


Nine months ended %
September 30, Increase Increase
2013 2012 (Decrease) (Decrease)
Revenues
New vehicle retail $ 1,585,504 $ 1,336,187 $ 249,317 18.7 %
Used vehicle retail 739,487 622,080 117,407 18.9
Used vehicle wholesale 113,417 102,892 10,525 10.2
Finance and insurance 97,671 80,983 16,688 20.6
Service, body and parts 273,130 256,782 16,348 6.4
Fleet and Other 28,683 28,313 370 1.3
Total revenues $ 2,837,892 $ 2,427,237 $ 410,655 16.9

Gross profit
New vehicle retail $ 105,498 $ 98,458 $ 7,040 7.2 %
Used vehicle retail 110,616 92,251 18,365 19.9
Used vehicle wholesale 2,402 712 1,690 237.4
Finance and insurance 97,671 80,983 16,688 20.6
Service, body and parts 130,208 121,537 8,671 7.1
Fleet and Other 882 612 270 44.1
Total gross profit $ 447,277 $ 394,553 $ 52,724 13.4

Gross margin
New vehicle retail 6.7 % 7.4 % (70) bps
Used vehicle retail 15.0 14.8 20 bps
Used vehicle wholesale 2.1 0.7 140 bps
Finance and insurance 100.0 100.0 - bps
Service, body and parts 47.7 47.3 40 bps
Fleet and Other 3.1 2.2 90 bps
Gross profit margin 15.8 16.3 (50) bps

Unit sales
New vehicle retail 47,411 40,816 6,595 16.2 %
Used vehicle retail 41,197 35,841 5,356 14.9
Used vehicle wholesale 15,752 14,046 1,706 12.1
Total units sold 104,360 90,703 13,657 15.1

Average selling price
New vehicle retail $ 33,442 $ 32,737 $ 705 2.2 %
Used vehicle retail 17,950 17,357 593 3.4
Used vehicle wholesale 7,200 7,325 (125 ) (1.7 )

Average gross profit per unit
New vehicle retail $ 2,225 $ 2,412 $ (187 ) (7.8) %
Used vehicle retail 2,685 2,574 111 4.3
Used vehicle wholesale 152 51 101 198.0
Finance and insurance 1,102 1,056 46 4.4




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Other Highlights (Unaudited)


As of
September 30, December 31, September 30,
2013 2012 2012
Days Supply(1)
New vehicle inventory 76 76 75
Used vehicle inventory 52 56 50


(1) Days supply calculated based on current inventory levels, excluding in-transit vehicles, and a 30-day historical cost of sales level.


Financial covenants
Requirement As of September 30, 2013
Current ratio Not less than 1.20 to 1 1.44 to 1
Fixed charge coverage ratio Not less than 1.20 to 1 3.54 to 1
Leverage ratio Not more than 5.00 to 1 1.48 to 1
Funded debt restriction Not more than $375 million $169.3 million




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Other Highlights (Unaudited)


Three months ended
September 30, Nine months ended
September 30,
2013 2012 2013 2012
New vehicle unit sales brand mix
Chrysler 29.5 % 32.7 % 30.1 % 32.3 %
Toyota 14.9 14.3 14.8 13.7
General Motors 14.5 15.2 15.5 15.4
Honda, Acura 8.8 6.8 7.7 6.9
Subaru 8.0 6.8 7.8 7.1
BMW, MINI 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.6
Ford 5.9 5.2 5.9 5.3
Nissan 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.9
Volkswagen, Audi 2.8 2.4 2.3 2.1
Hyundai 2.6 3.7 2.7 3.9
Mercedes 2.5 2.2 2.5 2.0
Kia 0.7 0.8 0.6 1.0
Mazda 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5
Other 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.3




Three months ended
September 30, Nine months ended
September 30,
2013 2012 2013 2012
Revenue geographic mix
Texas 24.0 % 24.4 % 24.9 % 25.0 %
Oregon 22.0 20.1 21.1 20.2
California 10.1 10.0 10.4 10.3
Montana 9.1 9.2 9.0 9.0
Washington 8.0 8.5 8.1 8.1
Alaska 7.9 8.4 7.8 8.7
Idaho 5.0 5.4 5.1 5.4
Nevada 5.0 4.6 4.8 4.7
Iowa 4.9 5.3 4.8 5.0
North Dakota 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3
New Mexico 1.7 1.8 1.6 1.3

As of October 23, 2013
Current store count mix # of stores % of total
Chrysler 23 25.1 %
General Motors 13 14.1
Honda, Acura 10 10.9
Toyota 9 9.8
BMW, MINI 9 9.8
Hyundai 5 5.4
Ford 5 5.4
Mercedes 4 4.3
Subaru 4 4.3
Nissan 4 4.3
Volkswagen, Audi 3 3.3
Other 3 3.3




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
(In thousands)


September 30, 2013 December 31, 2012
Cash and cash equivalents $ 16,093 $ 42,839
Trade receivables, net 140,086 133,149
Inventories, net 755,698 723,326
Deferred income taxes 1,999 3,832
Other current assets 9,477 17,484
Assets held for sale 11,845 12,579
Total current assets $ 935,198 $ 933,209

Property and equipment, net 452,367 425,086
Goodwill 40,313 32,047
Franchise value 66,465 62,429
Deferred income taxes 15,826 17,123
Other non-current assets 29,009 22,808
Total assets $ 1,539,178 $ 1,492,702

Floor plan notes payable $ 19,221 $ 13,454
Floor plan notes payable: non trade 569,027 568,130
Current maturities of long-term debt 7,066 8,182
Trade payables 48,645 41,589
Accrued liabilities 94,678 81,602
Liabilities related to assets held for sale 7,403 8,347
Total current liabilities $ 746,040 $ 721,304

Long-term debt 218,172 286,876
Deferred revenue 40,774 33,589
Other long-term liabilities 27,063 22,832
Total liabilities $ 1,032,049 $ 1,064,601

Class A common stock 267,004 268,801
Class B common stock 319 343
Additional paid-in capital 20,401 12,399
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1,677 ) (2,615 )
Retained earnings 221,082 149,173
Total liabilities & stockholders' equity $ 1,539,178 $ 1,492,702




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Summarized Cash Flow from Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands)


Nine months ended
September 30,
2013 2012
Net income $ 78,628 $ 60,530

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Asset impairments - 115
Depreciation and amortization 14,719 12,687
Depreciation and amortization within discontinued operations - 186
Stock-based compensation 4,161 2,329
(Gain) loss on disposal of assets 107 (775 )
(Gain) loss on disposal activities within discontinued operations - 397
Deferred income taxes 8,504 6,851
Excess tax benefit from share-based payment arrangements (5,956 ) (1,629 )
(Increase) decrease:
Trade receivables, net (6,937 ) (29,160 )
Inventories (18,187 ) (158,186 )
Other current assets 5,464 3,169
Other non-current assets (3,804 ) (4,346 )
Increase (decrease):
Floor plan notes payable, net 5,721 (93,975 )
Trade payables 4,848 5,381
Accrued liabilities 13,099 10,164
Other long-term liabilities and deferred revenue 12,307 9,927
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ 112,674 $ (176,335 )




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow from Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands)


Nine months ended
September 30,
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 2013 2012
As reported $ 112,674 $ (176,335 )
Floor plan notes payable, non-trade, net 2,685 272,760
Adjusted $ 115,359 $ 96,425




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
(In thousands, except for per share data)


Three months ended September 30, 2013
As reported Tax attribute Adjusted
Income from continuing operations before income taxes $ 47,713 $ - $ 47,713
Income tax expense (16,822 ) (1,284 ) (18,106 )
Net income from continuing operations $ 30,891 $ (1,284 ) $ 29,607

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 1.18 $ (0.05 ) $ 1.13
Diluted share count 26,237




Lithia Motors, Inc.
Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
(In thousands, except for per share data)


Nine months ended September 30, 2013
As reported Reserve adjustment Tax attribute Adjusted
Selling, general and administrative $ 318,984 $ (3,813 ) $ - $ 315,171

Income from operations $ 137,957 $ 3,813 $ - $ 141,770

Income from continuing operations before income taxes $ 124,548 $ 3,813 $ - $ 128,361
Income tax expense (46,494 ) (1,484 ) (1,512 ) (49,490 )
Net income from continuing operations $ 78,054 $ 2,329 $ (1,512 ) $ 78,871

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 2.98 $ 0.09 $ (0.05 ) $ 3.02
Diluted share count 26,159




Nine months ended September 30, 2012
As reported Asset impairment and disposal gain Equity investment Tax attribute Adjusted
Asset impairments $ 115 $ (115 ) $ - $ - $ -
Selling, general and administrative 276,561 739 - - 277,300

Income from operations 111,577 (624 ) - - 110,953

Other income, net 1,770 - (244 ) - 1,526

Income from continuing operations before income taxes $ 96,639 $ (624 ) $ (244 ) $ - $ 95,771
Income tax expense (36,908 ) 244 95 (1,066 ) (37,635 )
Net income from continuing operations $ 59,731 $ (380 ) $ (149 ) $ (1,066 ) $ 58,136

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 2.28 $ (0.01 ) $ (0.01 ) $ (0.04 ) $ 2.22
Diluted share count 26,203









Contact:


John North
VP Finance and Controller
(541) 618-5748

Go Lithia motors!

LAD

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lithia-motors-reports-adjusted-eps-113000221.html

Lithia is only getting bigger and recording record profits. Not to mention they are in the final stages of picking up another dealership.

<<< $LAD Links! >>> ~ MAC's Quick DD Links without the charts.




PennyStockTweets ~ http://www.pennystocktweets.com/stocks/profile/LAD


OTC Markets Company Info ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/company-info
OTC Markets Charts ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/chart
OTC Markets Quote ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/quote
OTC Markets News ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/news
OTC Markets Financials ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/financials
OTC Markets Short Sales ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/short-sales
OTC Markets Insider Disclosure ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/insider-transactions
OTC Markets Research Reports ~ http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LAD/research


Google Finance Summary ~ http://www.google.com/finance?q=LAD
Google Finance News ~ http://www.google.com/finance/company_news?q=LAD
Google Finance Option chain ~ http://www.google.com/finance/option_chain?q=LAD
Google Finance Financials ~ http://www.google.com/finance?q=LAD&fstype=ii#
Google Finance Historical prices Daily ~ http://www.google.com/finance/historical?q=LAD
Google Finance Historical prices Weekly ~ http://www.google.com/finance/historical?q=LAD&histperiod=weekly#


Y! < Company >
Y! Profile ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=LAD+Profile
Y! Key Stat's ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=LAD+Key+Statistics
Y! Headlines ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=LAD+Headlines
Y! Summary ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=LAD
Y! Historical Prices ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=LAD+Historical+Prices
Y! Order Book ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=LAD+Order+Book
Y! Message Boards ~ http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/mb/LAD
Y! Market Pulse ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/marketpulse/LAD
Y! Technical Analysis ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=LAD+Basic+Tech.+Analysis
Y! < Analyst Coverage >
Y! Analyst Opinion ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ao?s=LAD+Analyst+Opinion
Y! Analyst Estimates ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ae?s=LAD+Analyst+Estimates
Y! Research Reports ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/rr?s=LAD+Research+Reports
Y! Star Analysts ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/sa?s=LAD+Star+Analysts
Y! < Ownership >
Y! Major Holders ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=LAD+Major+Holders
Y! Insider Transactions ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=LAD+Insider+Transactions
Y! Insider Roster ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ir?s=LAD+Insider+Roster
Y! < Financials >
Y! Income Statement ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=LAD+Income+Statement&annual
Y! Balance Sheet ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=LAD+Balance+Sheet&annual
Y! Cash Flow ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cf?s=LAD+Cash+Flow&annual


FINVIZ ~ http://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=LAD&ty=c&ta=0&p=d


Investorshub Trades ~ http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=trades&symbol=LAD
Investorshub Board Search ~ http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/getboards.aspx?searchstr=LAD
Investorshub PostStream ~ http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/poststream.aspx?ticker=LAD
Investorshub Messages ~ http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/msgsearch.aspx?SearchStr=LAD
Investorshub Videos ~ http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=ihvse&ihvqu=LAD
Investorshub News ~ http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=news&btn=s_ok&ctl00%24sb3%24tbq1=Get+Quote&as_values_IH=&ctl00%24sb3%24stb1=Search+iHub&symbol=LAD&s_ok=OK&from_month=3&from_day=15&from_year=2012&order=desc&selsrc%5B%5D=prnca&selsrc%5B%5D=prnus&selsrc%5B%5D=zacks&selsrc%5B%5D=money2&selsrc%5B%5D=djn&selsrc%5B%5D=bw&selsrc%5B%5D=globe&selsrc%5B%5D=edgar&selsrc%5B%5D=mwus&force=1&last_ts=1331855999&p_n=1&p_count=&p_ts=1331794260


CandlestickChart ~ http://www.candlestickchart.com/cgi/chart.cgi?symbol=LAD&exchange=US


Barchart Quote ~ http://barchart.com/quotes/stocks/LAD?
Barchart Detailed Quote ~ http://barchart.com/detailedquote/stocks/LAD
Barchart Options Quotes ~ http://barchart.com/options/stocks/LAD
Barchart Technical Chart ~ http://barchart.com/charts/stocks/LAD&style=technical
Barchart Interactive Chart ~ http://barchart.com/charts/stocks/LAD&style=interactive
Barchart Technical Analysis ~ http://barchart.com/technicals/stocks/LAD
Barchart Trader's Cheat Sheet ~ http://barchart.com/cheatsheet.php?sym=LAD
Barchart Barchart Opinion ~ http://barchart.com/opinions/stocks/LAD
Barchart Snapshot Opinion ~ http://barchart.com/snapopinion/stocks/LAD
Barchart News Headlines ~ http://barchart.com/news/stocks/LAD
Barchart Profile ~ http://barchart.com/profile//LAD
Barchart Key Statistics ~ http://barchart.com/profile.php?sym=LAD&view=key_statistics


OTC: American Bulls ~ http://www.americanbulls.com/StockPage.asp?CompanyTicker=LAD&MarketTicker=OTC&TYP=S
NASDAQ: American Bulls ~ http://www.americanbulls.com/StockPage.asp?CompanyTicker=LAD&MarketTicker=NASD&TYP=S
NYSE: American Bulls ~ http://www.americanbulls.com/StockPage.asp?CompanyTicker=LAD&MarketTicker=NYSE&Typ=S


Marketwatch Profile ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/profile
Marketwatch Analyst Estimates ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/analystestimates
Marketwatch Historical Quotes ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/historical
Marketwatch Financials ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/financials
Marketwatch Overview ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD
Marketwatch SEC Filings ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/secfilings
Marketwatch Picks ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/picks
Marketwatch Hulbert ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/hulbert
Marketwatch Insider Actions ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/insideractions
Marketwatch Options ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/options
Marketwatch Charts ~ http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LAD/charts
Marketwatch News ~ http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/news/symbolsearch/symbolnews.asp?news=markadv&symb=LAD&sid=1795093&framed=False


The Lion ~ http://thelion.com/bin/aio_msg.cgi?cmd=search&msg=&si=1&tw=1&tt=1&rb=1&ih=1&fo=1&iv=1&yf=1&sa=1&fb=1&gg=1&symbol=LAD


Search NYSE ~ http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=LAD


StockTA ~ http://www.stockta.com/cgi-bin/analysis.pl?symb=LAD&num1=567&cobrand=&mode=stock


StockHouse ~ http://www.stockhouse.com/financialtools/sn_overview.aspx?qm_symbol=LAD
StockHouse Delayed LII ~ http://www.stockhouse.com/financialtools/sn_level2.aspx?qm_page=46140&qm_symbol=LAD


AlphaTrade ~ http://tools.alphatrade.com/index.php?t1=mc_quote_module&t2=mc_quote_module2&t3=historical&template=historical2html&sym=LAD&client_id=2740&a_width=680&a_height=1000&language=english&showVol=1&chtype=8


Reuters ~ http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyOfficers?symbol=LAD.PK&WTmodLOC=C4-Officers-5


StockWatch ~ http://www.stockwatch.com/Quote/Detail.aspx?symbol=LAD®ion=U


Search NASDAQ ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD
NASDAQ Divy History ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/dividend-history
NASDAQ Short Interest ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/short-interest
NASDAQ Institutional Ownership ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/institutional-holdings
NASDAQ FlashQuotes ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/flashquotes.aspx?symbol=LAD&selected=LAD
NASDAQ InfoQuotes ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/infoquotes.aspx?symbol=LAD&selected=LAD
NASDAQ After Hours Quote ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/after-hours
NASDAQ Pre-Market Quote ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/premarket
NASDAQ Historical Quote ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/historical
NASDAQ Option Chain ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/option-chain
NASDAQ Company Headlines ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/news-headlines
NASDAQ Press Releases ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/news-headlines
NASDAQ Sentiment ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/sentiment
NASDAQ Analyst Summary ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/analyst-research
NASDAQ Guru Analysis~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/guru-analysis
NASDAQ Stock Report ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/stock-report
NASDAQ Competitors ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/competitors
NASDAQ Stock Consultant ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/stock-consultant
NASDAQ Stock Comparison ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/stock-comparison
NASDAQ Call Transcripts ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/call-transcripts
NASDAQ Annual Reports ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/annualreport.aspx?symbol=LAD&selected=LAD
NASDAQ Financials ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/financials
NASDAQ Revenue & Earnings Per Share (EPS) ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/revenue-eps
NASDAQ SEC Filings ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/sec-filings
NASDAQ Ownership Summary ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/ownership-summary
NASDAQ Institutional Ownership ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/institutional-holdings
NASDAQ (SEC Form 4) ~
--------- All Trades ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/insider-trades
--------- Buys ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/insider-trades/buys
--------- Sells ~ http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/LAD/insider-trades/sells


The Motley Fool ~ http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/LAD.aspx
The Motley Fool Earnings/Growth ~ http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/LAD/EarningsGrowthRates.aspx?source=itxsittst0000001
The Motley Fool Ratios ~ http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/LAD/Ratios.aspx?source=itxsittst0000001
The Motley Fool Stats ~ http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/LAD/Stats.aspx?source=icasittab0000006
The Motley Fool Historical ~ http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/LAD/Historical.aspx?source=icasittab0000004
The Motley Fool Scorecard ~ http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/LAD/Scorecard.aspx?source=icasittab0000003
The Motley Fool Statements ~ http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/LAD/Statements.aspx?source=icasittab0000009


MSN Money ~ http://investing.money.msn.com/investments/stock-ratings?symbol=LAD


YCharts ~ http://ycharts.com/companies/LAD
YCharts Performance ~ http://ycharts.com/companies/LAD/performance
YCharts Dashboard ~ http://ycharts.com/companies/LAD/dashboard


InsideStocks Opinion ~ http://www.insidestocks.com/texpert.asp?sym=LAD&code=XDAILY
InsideStocks Profile ~ http://www.insidestocks.com/profile.asp?sym=LAD&code=XDAILY
InsideStocks Quote ~ http://www.insidestocks.com/quote.asp?sym=LAD&code=XDAILY
InsideStocks Projection ~ http://charts3.barchart.com/procal.asp?sym=LAD


Zacks Quote ~ http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/LAD
Zacks Estimates ~ http://www.zacks.com/research/report.php?type=estimates&t=LAD
Zacks Company Reports ~ http://www.zacks.com/research/report.php?type=report&t=LAD


Knobias ~ http://knobias.10kwizard.com/files.php?sym=LAD


StockScores ~ http://www.stockscores.com/quickreport.asp?ticker=LAD


Trade-Ideas ~ http://www.trade-ideas.com/StockInfo/LAD/HOT_TOPIC.html


Morningstar ~ http://performance.morningstar.com/stock/performance-return.action?region=USA&t=LAD&culture=en-US
Morningstar Shareholders ~ http://investors.morningstar.com/ownership/shareholders-overview.html?t=LAD®ion=USA&culture=en-us
Morningstar Transcripts~ http://www.morningstar.com/earnings/NoTranscript.aspx?t=LAD®ion=USA
Morningstar Key Ratios ~ http://financials.morningstar.com/ratios/r.html?t=LAD®ion=USA&culture=en-US
Morningstar Executive Compensation ~ http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-compensation.action?t=LAD®ion=USA&culture=en-us
Morningstar Valuation ~ http://financials.morningstar.com/valuation/price-ratio.html?t=LAD®ion=USA&culture=en-us


CCBN (Thompson Reuters) ~ http://ccbn.aol.com/company.asp?client=aol&ticker=LAD


TradingMarkets ~ http://pr.tradingmarkets.com/?lid=leftPRbox&sym=LAD


OTCBB ~ http://www.otcbb.com/asp/SiteSearch.asp?Criteria=LAD&searcharea=e&image1.x=0&image1.y=0


Insidercow ~ http://www.insidercow.com/history/company.jsp?company=LAD&B1=Search%21


Forbes News ~ http://search.forbes.com/search/find?tab=searchtabgeneraldark&MT=LAD
Forbes Press Releases ~ http://search.forbes.com/search/find?&start=1&tab=searchtabgeneraldark&MT=LAD&pub=businesswire,prnewswire&searchResults=pressRelease&tag=pr&premium=on
Forbes Web ~ http://search.forbes.com/search/web?MT=UNGS&start=1&max=10&searchResults=web&tag=web&sort=null


YouTube Symbol Search ~ http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=LAD


Buy-Ins ~ http://www.buyins.net/tools/symbol_stats.php?sym=LAD


Quotemedia ~ http://www.quotemedia.com/results.php?qm_page=47556&qm_symbol=LAD


Earnings Whispers ~ http://www.earningswhispers.com/stocks.asp?symbol=LAD

Bloomberg Snapshot ~ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=LAD
Bloomberg People ~ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/people.asp?ticker=LAD

Financial Times ~ http://markets.ft.com/Research/Markets/Tearsheets/Summary?s=LAD

Investorpoint ~ http://www.investorpoint.com/ enter "LAD" and click search.

Hotstocked ~ http://www.hotstocked.com/ enter "LAD" and click search.

Raging Bull ~ http://ragingbull.quote.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=LAD

Hoovers ~ http://www.hoovers.com/search/company-search-results/100003765-1.html?type=company&term=LAD

DD Machine ~ http://www.ddmachine.com/default.asp?m=stocktool_frame.asp?symbol=LAD

SEC Form 4 ~ http://www.secform4.com/insider/showhistory.php?cik=LAD

OTCBB Pulse ~ http://www.otcbbpulse.com/cgi-bin/pulsequote.cgi?symbol=LAD

Failures To Deliver ~ http://failurestodeliver.com/default2.aspx enter "LAD" and click search.

http://www.coordinatedlegal.com/SecretaryOfState.html

http://regsho.finra.org/regsho-Index.html

http://www.shortsqueeze.com/?symbol=LAD&submit=Short+Quote%99



DTCC (PENSON/TDA) Check - (otc and pinks) - Note ~ I did not check for this chart blast. However, I try and help you to do so with the following links.
IHUB DTCC BOARD SEARCH #1 http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/msgsearchbyboard.aspx?boardID=18682&srchyr=2011&SearchStr=LAD
IHUB DTCC BOARD SEARCH #2: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/msgsearchbyboard.aspx?boardID=14482&srchyr=2011&SearchStr=LAD
Check those searches for recent LAD mentions. If LAD is showing up on older posts and not on new posts found in link below, The DTCC issues may have been addressed and fixed. Always call the broker if your security turns up on any DTCC/PENSON list.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/msgsearchbyboard.aspx?boardID=18682&srchyr=2011&SearchStr=Complete+list
For a complete list see the pinned threads at the top here ---> http://tinyurl.com/TWO-OLD-FARTS



MACDlinks

~ Wednesday! $LAD ~ Q1 Earnings posted, pending or coming soon! In Charts and Links Below!

~ $LAD ~ Earnings expected on Wednesday *
Want more like this? Search Keyword: MACMONEY >>> http://tinyurl.com/MACMONEY <<<
One or more of many earnings sites has alerted this security has or will be posting earnings on or around the day of this message.








http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=LAD&p=D&b=3&g=0&id=p88783918276&a=237480049




http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=LAD&p=W&b=3&g=0&id=p54550695994



~ Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=LAD
~ Google Fin Options: hhttp://www.google.com/finance/option_chain?q=LAD#
~ Yahoo! Finance ~ Stats: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=LAD+Key+Statistics
~ Yahoo! Finance ~ Profile: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=LAD
Finviz: http://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=LAD
~ BusyStock: http://busystock.com/i.php?s=LAD&v=2


<<<<<< http://www.earningswhispers.com/stocks.asp?symbol=LAD >>>>>>



http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/post_prvt.aspx?user=251916

*If the earnings date is in error please ignore error. I do my best.

Lithia Motors Reports Adjusted Continuing Operations EPS of $0.49 for Fourth Quarter and $1.97 for Full Year 2011; Increases

http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=51300843&symbol=LAD

~ Wednesday! $LAD ~ Earnings posted, pending or coming soon! In Charts and Links Below!

~ $LAD ~ Earnings expected on Wednesday *
Want more like this? Search Keyword: MACMONEY >>> http://tinyurl.com/MACMONEY <<<
One or more of many earnings sites has alerted this security has or will be posting earnings on or around the day of this message.








http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=LAD&p=D&b=3&g=0&id=p88783918276&a=237480049




http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=LAD&p=W&b=3&g=0&id=p54550695994



~ Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=LAD
~ Google Fin Options: hhttp://www.google.com/finance/option_chain?q=LAD#
~ Yahoo! Finance ~ Stats: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=LAD+Key+Statistics
~ Yahoo! Finance ~ Profile: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=LAD
Finviz: http://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=LAD
~ BusyStock: http://busystock.com/i.php?s=LAD&v=2


<<<<<< http://www.earningswhispers.com/stocks.asp?symbol=LAD >>>>>>



http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/post_prvt.aspx?user=251916

*If the earnings date is in error please ignore error. I do my best.