Car loans the next growth area, Carsales

Online automotive advertiser Carsales.com is pushing into the car finance market to increase its growth in the next financial year.

Cars lined up in a car yard.

Online advertiser Carsales.com is pushing into the car finance market to increase its growth. (AAP)

Carsales.com is not just going to sell you your next car, boat or motorbike, it's also going to help you pay for it.

After posting a 14 per cent rise in full year profit, the new and used car seller is making aggressive moves to help Australians fund their next automotive purchase.

The company earmarked its recent acquisition, Stratton Finance, as one of its main growth areas heading into the 2015 financial year.

Carsales purchased a 50 per cent stake in Stratton in July to complement its current loan program as well as provide the existing business with more equity.

Chief executive Greg Roebuck said Carsales had been pursuing the deal for a number of years, and the investment would give it an opportunity to become an external financial provider for smaller vehicle dealerships.

"We really see an opportunity for us to continue one of our core focuses which is assisting consumers for things that they need," Mr Roebuck said on Wednesday.

"There's a lot of bike dealers for example who don't have the ability to have finance managers in their business. We can provide an outsource service for that."

His comments came as the company reported a net profit of $95.5 million for 2013/14, up from $83.5 million the previous year.

Despite the positive earnings result, Carsales shares were 33 cents, or 2.9 per cent, lower at $10.85 at 1245 AEST.

100 Doors managing partner Peter Esho said while Carsales had reported an impressive profit result, it was slightly down on its guidance.

"There has been a lot of good news factored in to the stock price," Mr Esho said.

"In absolute terms, it's a good set of numbers but the rate of growth is a bit below what the market was expecting and the outlook is not that exciting."

Internationally, the car seller's holdings in Brazilian and Asian automotive classifieds businesses performed well during the year.

Its South Korean business Sk Encar, which it purchased in April, upped its revenue by more than 35 per cent in the three months to June 30.

CARSALES ON THE FAST TRACK

* Net profit of $95.5m, up 14 pct from $83.5m in 2012/13

* Revenue of $235.6m, up 10 pct from $215.1m

* Fully-franked final dividend of 17.4 cents a share, up from 15.6 cents


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world