Super Cheap Auto Group Limited SUL

[donnie]

very good result for the super cheap auto group, looks like a company with a lot of growth still to come in NZ and Australia.

Super Cheap results accelerate past prospectus forecast
23/08/04 By: Stephen Blaxhall

Super Cheap Auto Group Limited (SUL), today advised that it had achieved proforma sales of $382.7 million and growth of 39.1% on the 2002/03 financial year, both outperforming its 2004 Prospectus forecast. Compound sales growth for the last three years had also increased to 36.5%.

Proforma EBITDA was $32 million, 22.6% up on the previous financial year, and $1.4 million above the Prospectus forecast, while proforma earnings per share (pre amortisation and share issue costs) was 15.0c, which is 1.6c above the prospectus forecast


Sales were $3.8 million above the prospectus forecast, which the company said were driven by a number of new stores opening in June, 2004 that were forecast to occur in July, 2004 said the company.

“Our 2003/’04 results and recent store openings have put us on track to achieve our 2005 Prospectus forecast,” said Mr Bob Thorn, Super Cheap Auto’s managing director.

Proforma net debt was at $49.2 million, which was $10.8 million below the Prospectus forecast. Me Thorn said like for like sales growth over the period at 4% was in line with the Prospectus forecast, and new store activity were also ahead of the forecast.

Super Cheap Auto Group Limited was incorporated on 8 April, 2004. On 23 April 2004, the company acquired all of the issued share capital of Super Cheap Auto Pty Ltd, the principal trading company.

Mr Thorn said store numbers at 26 June 2004 totalled 183, with team member numbers now close to 3,000 across Australia and New Zealand. He said there would be a continued focus on supply chain improvements and merchandising over the 2004/’05 financial year.

The company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on 6 July 2004.

At 1010 AEST Super Cheap Auto were up 5c at $2.60

News release and results here:

http://stocknessmonster.com/news-item?S=SUL&E=ASX&N=161937

[winner69]

Todays Australian - and pretty close to $3 now. Not bad for an IPO that went backwards to start with

No super cheap auto for this DIY millionaire - THE MONDAY PROFILE

The auto group is souping up profits, Andrew Fraser writes
BOB Thorn does not have a fluffy dice hanging from the rear vision mirror of his car, but his sporty BMW is the type of vehicle to which the average Super Cheap Auto shopper would aspire.

Thorn, the chief executive of Super Cheap Auto, does not disappoint in the blokey stakes. He has driven V8s competitively and has a good deal of the company's wares at home.

``I have a shed,'' he admits. ``There's tons of stuff in there that I thought I'd get because I'm sure to use it at some stage. But I don't seem to have the time.''

Thorn has had plenty of distractions to keep him from the power tools. When he joined Super Cheap Auto in 1993 the company had eight stores in Brisbane and it now has 190 stores covering every state in Australia plus New Zealand. It plans to open one store a week and eventually have 300 stores.

The company expects this growth in retail outlets to drive profits. Last week Super Cheap Auto posted a profit of $13.2 million for 2003-04 -- well up from the $11.4 million forecast in the prospectus. This year it has forecast a profit of $15.4 million.

Thorn predicts sales will increase from $382.7 million in the year just finished to $475 million in the current year.

Despite its name, Super Cheap Auto is more than a rev-head's paradise, a sort of Revin' Bevan Heaven. Thorn stresses the stores have no direct competitors, but rather a range of competitors.

Car parts, for example, constitute less than 15 per cent of Super Cheap Auto's stock, and in this area it competes directly with Repco. The stores also carry a lot of hardware and in this area compete directly with the likes of Bunnings. In the field of car accessories, the competition is specialist retailers such as Autobarn.

But what Super Cheap does have is a strong and well-defined image, aimed directly at the company's core market of males aged 18-55.

``It's not exactly a great shock to find that our major market is men,'' Thorn says. ``But it does surprise a lot of people to find that we don't just sell to a blue-collar market, but across all social groups.

``It's not just the rev-heads who come in here. We've got a diverse range of products and we're a lot broader than that.

``There's a strong DIY element. Basically it's any bloke who's interested in doing things for himself around the car, the yard, the boat -- we have the tools and equipment to help him do that.''

Super Cheap Auto reaches these titans of the tool shed through extensive advertising, in particular television and letterbox drops of catalogues. With something like 5million catalogues dropped into Australian letterboxes each year, Super Cheap Auto is one of the biggest users of this form of advertising in Australia.

``We're also involved in motor sport, and that helps us a lot with our positioning in the market,'' Thorn says.

He says Super Cheap deliberately does not go down the franchising path, preferring to keep control of each store.

There are three central warehouses -- one each in Perth, Auckland and the company's headquarters at Lawnton on the northern outskirts of Brisbane. Super Cheap's stores are now mostly concentrated in the east coast states, and Thorn says most of the new stores will be opened in South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand.

Although the company bought a competing West Australian chain last year, Thorn says most of the growth will come from opening new stores.

Thorn is keen on the ``corporate culture'' of Super Cheap and distributes a card with the five basic principles of working for the company.

``What I'm trying to encourage is a pride in the organisation,'' he says. ``No one in here wears a suit and tie -- we all dress the same, in these corporate uniforms. And it's always on a first-name basis.''

Thorn's own background is in specialist retailing. He is originally f

[donnie]

SUL still going well everythings on track for an outstanding result.

21 October 2004 For Immediate Release
Press Release
Super Cheap Auto Announces 1st Quarter
Sales Performance
Speaking at his company’s Annual General Meeting, Mr. Bob Thorn, Managing Director,
of Super Cheap Auto Group Limited, announced this afternoon that sales for the 14
weeks to 2nd October 2004 had grown by 22.1% over the comparative period in the prior
financial year.
“This is a strong performance in line with our prospectus projections. We are on track
with our plans for new stores and have now opened 11 stores so far this financial year.
We have also delivered a robust level of like for like performance particularly given that
the prior year comparative period benefited from the heavy weight of promotional
activity supporting the integration of the recently acquired Marlows business.”
Total sales for the 14 weeks resulted in Australia reaching $108.5m and New Zealand at
$9.9m. The total company sales of $118.4m includes 4.0% like for like growth.
Store numbers continue to increase, in line with the Prospectus Forecast, with the
company trading 192 stores as at 2nd October, 2004, of which 170 were in Australia and
22 in New Zealand. A further 2 stores have been opened in Australia as at the date of
this announcement and it is expected that the 200th store will open before Christmas
2004.