By Helena Smolak
Auto1 Group shares rose after the company said it swung to profitability–based on its preferred adjusted earnings metric–for the first time since its initial public offering and raised its full-year guidance.
At 1103 GMT, Auto1 shares were up 11.23% at EUR7.09.
The German digital-automotive platform said Wednesday that its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were positive for the first time in the third quarter, at 495,000 euros ($529,675) compared with an adjusted Ebitda loss of EUR35.2 million in the prior-year period.
The company said it achieved adjusted Ebitda breakeven one quarter ahead of its year-end target, which it credited to a higher gross profit and reduced personnel and marketing expenses.
For the year as a whole, Auto1 now expects a full-year adjusted Ebitda loss of between EUR39 million and EUR49 million, an improvement from its previous expectations of a loss between EUR50 million and EUR70 million.
Auto1’s third-quarter sales declined to EUR1.29 billion from EUR1.71 billion. Gross profit rose to EUR134.4 million from EUR123.4 million, the company said.
The group continues to expect its gross profit target to be between EUR500 million and EUR550 million, it said.
Write to Helena Smolak at helena.smolak@wsj.com
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