The Boyd Group, parent company of Gerber Collision & Glass, reported second-quarter revenue of $384 million Canadian, up 16 percent from second-quarter 2016.
Same-store sales increased 3.4 percent, and adjusted net earnings jumped 10.1 percent to CA$15 million.
“Thus far in 2017, in addition to continuing to deliver strong financial performance, we have also taken significant steps to build an even stronger growth platform with our acquisition of Assured and its seasoned management team,” said Brock Bulbuck, CEO of the Winnipeg-based Boyd Group Income Fund. “The North American collision repair industry remains highly fragmented, and we see many opportunities to acquire or open attractive repair centers and achieve accretive growth.”
During the second-quarter conference call, company executives fielded questions about Boyd Group’s struggling glass business and its acquisition of Assured Automotive, among other topics.
“Looking ahead to the remainder of 2017, we are confident that our strategy will continue to deliver results in terms of adding locations and operational execution,” Bulbuck said. “We do, however, expect to face significant currency headwinds as the recent increase in the value of the Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar will make second-quarter to third-quarter and year-over-year comparisons challenging. Additionally, our glass business continues to face pricing and market challenges in 2017 that cause it to underperform in comparison to last year.”
Bulbuck noted during the conference call that Boyd Group isn’t immune to the industry-wide skills gap. He said the consolidator has been dealing with “summer vacation-related” production challenges stemming from “the continuing technician shortage.”
COO Tim O’Day added that the company has been stepping up its efforts to recruit new technicians and improve employee retention, and has been trying to strengthen its apprenticeship program.
