Shares of Burson Group Ltd (ASX: BAP) have continued to rally today, lifting another 2.7% to $4.93 and giving them a total gain of 7.2% over the last week.
Burson Group is in the business of distributing automotive aftermarket parts for the repair and servicing of vehicles which are over four-years old. It's a defensive industry to be in, given the nature of consumers to hang onto their older cars for longer when times get tough, which can lead to greater demand for the products and services provided by companies such as Burson.
The company held its investor day on Tuesday, providing investors with their first glimpse into the company's progress with the integration of the Aftermarket Network Australia business, which it acquired from Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) in 2015.
While my colleague Mike King highlighted a number of the outcomes from the day here, here are a few more key takeaways for investors:
- Firstly, the company will seek shareholder approval to change the name of the group to Bapcor. This is partially to recognise the evolution of the group while it also aims to remove any confusion surrounding the names of the traditional business, Burson Trade, and the group itself. Notably, the trade centres would maintain their name of Burson Trade to maintain the brand recognition.
- Burson will continue to explore new acquisition opportunities, while there is also plenty of opportunity to grow organically. Same-store-sales (SSS) have grown strongly in the third quarter, continuing the trend set by the company in the first half of financial year 2016 (FY16).
- The company sees plenty of opportunity for its Opposite Lock business to grow, including a 'store-in-store' concept, which would involve opening more Opposite Lock locations within existing AutoBarn stores. This concept not only has the potential to save on overheads, but could also drive customer growth for both businesses. Notably, the Opposite Lock business is a specialist 4×4 automotive part and accessory store, and typically attracts much larger customer orders than Autobarn.
- Burson said it was targeting $41.5 million to $43 million in full-year net profit, and expects it to be near the top of that range.
The company has also identified a potential earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) benefit of between $8 million and $12.5 million as a result of its optimisation project (undertaken to understand and enhance the synergies and efficiencies that could be drawn from the ANA purchase in 2015).
While a small portion of that is expected to be achieved this financial year (between $1 million and $1.5 million), the majority is expected to be realised in FY17 – between $5 million and $7 million. Meanwhile, the company also expects to achieve a working capital benefit of a total of $6 million ($2 million in FY17, FY18 and FY19) as a result of a restructure.
Although Burson's shares aren't necessarily cheap at almost $5, Burson does represent a great Australian business. With a high-quality management team at the helm and with plenty of opportunities left to grow, Burson could still make for a good investment for long-term investors.
