Rich Lister pockets $17m in record payout from car profits boom

afr.com:

Australia’s largest car dealership group, Eagers Automotive, is paying out a record first-half dividend to shareholders including Rich Lister Nick Politis, who will collect $17 million because he owns 27.6 per cent of the company.

Eagers, which operates 200 showrooms selling popular brands including Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW and Subaru, and also distributes the fast-growing electric vehicle brand BYD, said the record payout was a sign of its bullish outlook, with profit margins high and a 22-month backlog of orders still to be delivered to customers.

Eagers Automotive chief executive Keith Thornton: About 10 per cent of all vehicle deliveries to customers for the first six months from the group were full-battery EVs. 

Eagers chief executive Keith Thornton said the company was in a strong position, with vehicle buyers paying full price for cars and no discounting in sight. Car manufacturers offshore realised that a steady ramp-up of production after the pandemic disruptions yielded better financial returns.

“The reality is that they know if they oversupply the market it’s going to cost them money,” he said.

Eagers will pay out its highest ever interim dividend of 24¢ cents per share on September 22, topping the 22¢ payout a year ago.

“It’s pointing to our confidence in the outlook for the second half and beyond,” he said.

Eagers reported that statutory net profit after tax for the six months ended June 30 slipped 19.5 per cent to $137.8 million, but the previous year’s profits were bumped up by one-offs from asset sales. Underlying profit from continuing operations were up 12.3 per cent to $207.4 million.

Mr Thornton said about 10 per cent of all vehicle deliveries to customers for the first six months from the