Uni-Select Quarter Up, Canadian Automotive Down

Uni-Select released its results for the first quarter of 2001, revealing a 1% increase in earnings, despite a slight drop in its Canadian Automotive business.
For the quarter ended March 31, Uni-Select’s net earnings have increased by 1% to $2,244,000 or $0.13 per share compared to $2,223,000 $ or 0.12$ per share, for the corresponding period of 2000. Sales were $138,221,000 an increase of 2.6% over sales of $134,757,000 for the first quarter of 2000.
Sales of Automotive Group – Canada decreased by 1.4% during the first quarter at $98,798,000 compared to $100,180,000 for the first quarter of 2000. The decrease was felt in the Maritime Provinces, Quebec and British Columbia whereas the acquisition of assets of “The Cooling Depot” had a favorable impact resulting in a better than anticipated performance in the Ontario market.
Automotive Group USA recorded an increase in sales of 36.1% at $28,164,000 compared to $20,692,000 for the same quarter a year earlier. This increase is the result of the full consolidation of revenues of the North Central division during the first quarter of 2001 and the impact of the acquisitions of the businesses of Brandon Auto Supply, Inc and Clay Street Corporation completed in the last quarter of 2000 and the acquisition of some operations of The Parts House, Inc completed in February 2001.
The Heavy Duty Group had sales of $11,258,000 for the first quarter of 2001 a decrease of 18.9% compared to the year earlier quarter when sales reached $13,885,000. This decrease is both the result of the rationalization and closure of one third of the outlets completed in the third quarter of 2000 and of cyclical and structural changes in the trucking industry. The consolidation of manufacturers and dealers has increased competition and reduced operating margins and the increase in the cost of fuel has affected operators that have been delaying repairs.
“The North American context offers challenges in both the light and heavy duty sector of replacement parts for vehicles. We believe that, given the current state of the economy, we are in a position to capitalize on business opportunities as they develop. We are pleased to note that the measures put in place to maintain and improve the return to our shareholders are beginning to have a positive impact” commented Mr. Jacques Landreville, president and CEO.
The board of directors of Uni-Select declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share to be paid on July 20th 2001 to shareholders of record on June 29 2001.