Lithia Motors Presents at BancBoston Robertson Stephens Conference
5 October 1999
Lithia Motors, Inc. Presents at BancBoston Robertson Stephens Consumer Conference in New York
NEW YORK, Oct. 5 -- Lithia Motors, Inc. is
presenting today at the BancBoston Robertson Stephens Consumer Conference in
New York, New York. The conference features over 125 companies whose senior
executives are making presentations to an aggregate attendance of over
1,000 institutional investors. The attendees will represent equity portfolio
managers and research analysts from around the U.S. and overseas. Among the
companies presenting are Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, Barnesandnoble.com,
Saks, Inc., Wendy's International, Avis Rent A Car, Harley Davidson Inc., and
eToys Inc.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990909/LITHIALOGO )
The highlights of the Lithia Motors presentation are as follows:
1) The auto retailing industry is the largest retailing sector in the U.S.
with over $670 billion in new and used vehicle sales. This is more than four
times the size of the home improvement industry and eight times the consumer
electronics industry;
2) The industry is still highly fragmented and in the very early stages of
consolidation with approximately 22,000 dealerships operated by under
15,000 owners. There are no dominant national or regional players as the Top
10 dealers control only 5% of the market and the Top 100 dealers control only
11%;
3) Lithia Motors, Inc. has been in the automobile retailing industry since
1946 and became a public company in December of 1996 at $11/share. The senior
management team has been together for nearly 30 years and has been focused
solely on auto retailing throughout that period of time. Management currently
owns approximately 49% of the shares in Lithia Motors;
4) Lithia has increased revenues by more than five times on an actual
basis and more than nine times on an annualized run-rate basis (currently
$1.3 billion) since 1996 when it went public. Over this same period of time,
Lithia's operating margin has increased from 3.0% to 3.7%. The company stands
out as one of the premier operators in the auto-retailing sector and has
exceeded Wall Street consensus estimates all eleven quarters since becoming a
public company;
5) Lithia has achieved earnings per share (EPS) growth of 58% in 1997,
39% in 1998 and 53% for the first half of 1999 and today has approximately
$110 million in available capital to continue to execute its disciplined
growth strategy; and
6) Lithia attributes its success to its long-term industry experience and
disciplined growth strategy that has at its core the integration of
acquisitions utilizing common operating and customer satisfaction practices.
Lithia now operates 92 franchises in California, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada and Colorado and sells 24 brands of new vehicles at 38 stores and over
the Internet through "Lithia.com-America's Car & Truck Store." Lithia also
sells used vehicles; arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance
contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all
of its locations. Lithia retailed 31,353 new and used vehicles in 1998.
Lithia's current annualized revenue run rate, including all completed
acquisitions, is over $1.3 billion or approximately 58,600 retail new and used
vehicles.
This press release includes forward looking statements which management
believes are a benefit to shareholders. These statements are necessarily
subject to risk and uncertainty and actual results could differ materially due
to certain risk factors, including without limitation, economic conditions,
acquisition risk factors, manufacturer approval, and others set forth from
time to time in the company's filing with the SEC. Specific risks included in
this press release include future acquisitions, the availability of capital,
revenue run rate, and unit sales run rate.
For additional information on Lithia Motors, contact: Jeff DeBoer, Vice
President of Finance/Investor Relations 541-776-6868 or log-on to
http://www.lithia.com (E-mail: invest@lithia.com).