TRA - Turners Automotive Group

[winner (n)]

Used car stat's for August are out.  Another strong month with public to dealer sales up 11.15% and dealer to public sales up 8.42% compared to August last year.  https://www.turners.co.nz/globalassets/terms-and-conditions/market-report-cars---August-2025.pdf
These are great transaction numbers considering the woeful state of the economy.

.....and don't forget to allow for market share gains

[lorraina]

Less competition for Turners and 2CC.
Auckland used car dealership Vehicle Direct and two associated companies have gone into liquidation and receivership, leaving creditors owed more than $5.7 million.

The companies — Vehicle Direct Ltd, Auto Trading Ltd and Auto Compliance & Repairs Ltd — were placed into liquidation on September 4 by special resolution of the shareholder, director Muhammad Waseem.

Westpac New Zealand is the largest secured creditor, with claims of just over $3.1 million across the three entities. Other secured lenders include Bizcap NZ ($119,462) and Heartland Bank ($64,835), with further exposure from EFCO, Go Car Finance and Ishfaq Bhatti Ltd (MTF Finance).

According to the liquidator's report, the companies faced sustained financial pressures, including an inability to recover costs, liabilities from guarantees, and "challenging economic conditions." Rising operating costs, increased competition, and a lack of sales left the dealership without sufficient working capital to continue trading.

Vehicle Direct operated from Great South Rd in Otahuhu, while Auto Trading Ltd imported and wholesaled vehicles, and Auto Compliance & Repairs Ltd — previously trading as VD Panel & Paint — provided repair and compliance services.

Alongside secured creditors, Inland Revenue is owed $427,564 by Vehicle Direct, $114,824 by Auto Trading, and $285,537 by Auto Compliance & Repairs. Employee entitlements across the group total more than $280,000, while unsecured creditors are collectively owed over $1.4m.

The liquidator, Mohammed Tazleen Nasib Jan of Liquidation Management Ltd, confirmed that the companies are party to pending legal proceedings. Assets such as stock and fixed property are under security agreements and have yet to be valued. Further investigations into the affairs of the companies will follow.

[Basil]

From the recent annual meeting presentation.
https://api.nzx.com/public/announcement/457153/attachment/450029/457153-450029.pdf
Page 22 shows the dealer numbers in freefall since 2018 and notice how the slope of the downward line has steepened in 2025 !
Page 13 is really interesting for dividend hounds like me.  In the last decade Turners have grown dividends at a CAGR of 14% per annum !  That's unmatched by any company on the NZX.

One ingredient in the secret sauce that gives Turners a huge competitive advantage is because they're the biggest, they sell the most vehicles by far and have the most accurate market intelligence of what various makes and models of vehicles are really worth. 

[Dolcile]

In time, there is a real possibility that Turners corners the entire market

[lorraina]

Yes......

[Basil]

In time, there is a real possibility that Turners corners the entire market

LOL.  They've grown from about 4.5% before the Tina campaign first kicked off about 4-5 years ago to circa 9-10%, varies from month to month Aaron the CFO said at the annual meeting.  I think they could have 14-15% of the market in ~ 5 years time. 

[Basil]

RBNZ set to cut more quickly, deeper and stay really low for much longer after today's bad GDP. More tailwinds for TRA's finance book. I topped up with some more today.  Another divvy due next month and 2 x interest rate cuts before the end of the year looking like almost a certainty, maybe one or both a jumbo 50 bps cut ?  Interest on your call account will be almost nothing before Christmas. might as well invest it and get decent dividend returns that have grown at a 14%, (that's not a typo), CAGR for the last decade.

[Waltzing]

Next Div Annoucement soon? hitting over 7 today.. with according to SIR B OCR cuts coming thick and fast where is this heading by santa time?     

[Basil]

Yes, next quarterly dividend should be announced soon, payable late October.

Next catalyst will be half year profit announcement late November. Directors are very conservative with profit guidance so it was a surprise to see them guiding at the annual meeting to at least a 10% increase this half. They must be supremely confident it will be at least 10% so this begs the question of how much more?

Also guiding to a stronger second half with 3 new branches at Christchurch.

Extremely well run business. Large holding.

[winner (n)]

Ha ha ...Tina's reach has stuffed 2CC

Watch this space they cry ....Turners better budget for share loss

From BusinessDesk

Extract -

Listed used car dealership 2 Cheap Cars says it is pulling in brand consultants amid a Turners marketing tearaway.

At the online annual meeting on Friday, 2 Cheap Cars' leadership were asked by a shareholder to explain the firm's branding strategy.

The shareholder cited Turners "very aggressive marketing strategy" and its efforts to "actively build brand awareness at the moment before the recovery next year".

In response, chief financial officer Angus Guerin said 2 Cheap Cars was "definitely trying to ramp up" its marketing strategy.

"We're looking at new ways to build our brand. We've engaged brand consultants, and that's coming to fruition. We should see some new stuff in the market within the next few months.

"So, watch this space."

Chair Michael Stiassny highlighted that the Tina from Turners adverts were focused on trying to get New Zealanders to sell their cars because margins are higher on NZ resales than on Japanese imported vehicles.

"The strategy that we're following of trying to buy local is clearly the same policy that they're following," he said.

[Dolcile]

Buyers starting to come to terms with having to pay $7+ for Turners.

[Basil]

Tina could be charging $9 a hug by late next year.

[Waltzing]

9 handle... gosh...with in just over 12 months... massive...

[Basil]

Very nice work on tweaks to the employee share scheme.  Its almost as if Todd read my mind as one of the things I forgot to ask when attending the recent annual meeting was is your staff share scheme really good enough ? Employees getting $1,500 of shares after 3 years but they have to pay for them all themselves, albeit with an interest free loan is not really much of an incentive is it ?  My suggestion was going to be, is it worth raising that to $2,000 as to some people that's a decent amount of money whereas $1,500 feels a but miserly.

They've gone one better and only asking people to pay for half of the amount, $1,000 and get the other $1,000 of shares for free after 3 years service.  Very smart move in my opinion and will lead to more staff engagement which I understand is already very high.
Detail is here https://www.nzx.com/announcements/460071  We must be due for a dividend announcement very shortly. 

Very intelligent board and management who collectively own circa 30% of the business and are managing it extremely well. 

[Basil]

Interesting volume after the close.  Over $5m worth of stock transacted at $7.08.