HOUSTON, Aug. 16,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
(NYSE: GPI) ("Group 1" or the "Company"), an
international, Fortune 300 automotive retailer with 204 dealerships
located in the U.S. and U.K., today announced its board of
directors increased the Company's common stock repurchase
authorization by $130 million to
$250 million, and also declared an
increase to the quarterly cash dividend.
"Our strong cash flow and balance sheet continues to enable
significant capital deployment in 2022. Growing our U.S. and
U.K. businesses while also returning capital to our shareholders
remain our top capital allocation priorities," said Earl J. Hesterberg, Group 1's President and
Chief Executive Officer.
- Share Repurchases & Authorization Increase
The
Company announced that its board of directors increased the
Company's common stock share repurchase authorization by
$130 million to $250 million. The Company also updated their
year-to-date repurchase activity of 1,546,856 shares of common
stock at an average price of $176.80
for a total of $273.5 million, which
represents 9.0 percent of Group 1's outstanding share count at
January 1, 2022. Purchases may be
made from time to time, based on market conditions, legal
requirements, and other corporate considerations, in the open
market or in privately negotiated transactions. The Company expects
that any repurchase of shares will be funded by cash from
operations. Repurchased shares will be held in treasury.
- Quarterly Cash Dividend Increase
Group 1's board of
directors also declared a cash dividend of $0.38 per share for the second quarter of 2022.
The dividend represents an increase of 2.7%, or $0.01 per share, from the first quarter of 2022,
and will be payable on September 15,
2022, to stockholders of record as of September 1, 2022.
ABOUT GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE,
INC.
Group 1 owns and operates 204 automotive dealerships,
273 franchises, and 47 collision centers in
the United States and the
United Kingdom that offer
35 brands of automobiles. Through its dealerships and
omni-channel platform, the Company sells new and used cars and
light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service and
insurance contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair
services; and sells vehicle parts.
Group 1 discloses additional information about the Company,
its business, and its results of operations at www.group1corp.com,
www.group1auto.com, www.group1collision.com, www.acceleride.com,
www.facebook.com/group1auto, and
www.twitter.com/group1auto.
FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, which are statements related to future, not past, events
and are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding
our business, the economy and other future conditions. In this
context, the forward-looking statements often include statements
regarding our strategic investments, goals, plans, projections and
guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations
and business strategy, and often contain words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should,"
"foresee," "may" or "will" and similar expressions. While
management believes that these forward-looking statements are
reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future
developments affecting us will be those that we anticipate. Any
such forward-looking statements are not assurances of future
performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause
actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the
statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other
things, (a) general economic and business conditions, (b) the level
of manufacturer incentives, (c) the future regulatory environment,
(d) our ability to obtain an inventory of desirable new and used
vehicles, (e) our relationship with our automobile manufacturers
and the willingness of manufacturers to approve future
acquisitions, (f) our cost of financing and the availability of
credit for consumers, (g) our ability to complete acquisitions and
dispositions and the risks associated therewith, (h) foreign
exchange controls and currency fluctuations, (i) the impacts of
COVID-19 and the armed conflict in Ukraine on our business and the
supply chains upon which our business is dependent, (j) the impacts
of continued inflation and any potential global recession, (k) our
ability to maintain sufficient liquidity to operate, (l) the risk
that proposed transactions will not be consummated in a timely
manner, and (m) our ability to successfully integrate recent and
future acquisitions. For additional information regarding known
material factors that could cause our actual results to differ from
our projected results, please see our filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor contacts:
Jason
Babbitt
Vice President, Treasurer
Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
jbabbitt@group1auto.com
Media contacts:
Pete
DeLongchamps
Senior Vice President, Manufacturer Relations, Financial Services
and Public Affairs
Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
pdelongchamps@group1auto.com
or
Clint Woods
Pierpont Communications, Inc.
713-627-2223
cwoods@piercom.com
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SOURCE Group 1 Automotive, Inc.