The Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) share price will be one to watch closely on Wednesday.
This follows the release of the auto parts retailer's full year results this morning.
Bapcor share price on watch after reporting strong profit growth
- Revenue increased 20.4% to $1,761.7 million
- Pro forma EBITDA jumped 28.8% to $279.5 million
- Pro forma net profit after tax up 46.5% to $130.1 million
- Fully franked final dividend of 11 cents per share, bringing full year dividend to 20 cents (up 14.3% year on year)
- FY 2022 guidance: Pro forma earnings to be at least flat
What happened in FY 2021 for Bapcor?
For the 12 months ended 30 June, Bapcor delivered a record sales and profit result thanks to strong demand, operating leverage, and profitability in every business segment.
The star of the show for Bapcor in FY 2021 was its Retail segment. Revenue for the year increased by 26.1% and EBITDA increased by 20.1%. A key driver of this growth was its Autobarn business, which reported same store sales growth of 22.2%. Online sales in the segment more than doubled, with over 80% of these being click and collect sales.
This was supported by a solid performance by its Trade segment. It reported a 15.5% increase in revenue and a 19% jump in EBITDA. Strong same store sales growth of 14.3% and the addition of 14 new stores drove this growth. There are now 200 stores nationwide in the segment.
Elsewhere, the acquisition of the Truckline and Diesel Drive businesses boosted its Specialist Wholesale segment, which reported a 26.8% increase in revenue and a 42.2% lift in EBITDA. Excluding acquisitions, growth would have been 17.3% and 32% respectively.
Finally, the Bapcor New Zealand business delivered an 8.8% increase in revenue and a 21.2% jump in EBITDA. This was despite facing challenging market conditions.
What did management say?
Bapcor's CEO & Managing Director, Darryl Abotomey, said: "Bapcor's talented team members have delivered another outstanding record result in FY21. As was the case in the first half of the year, every one of our business segments increased revenue and earnings, capitalising on the increased demand during the period while at the same time also delivering major projects across the group that will set us up for continued success."
"Significant progress has continued to be made in investments to drive the long-term success of Bapcor. The new distribution warehouse building at Tullamarine in Victoria has been completed with Retail having successfully transferred into the facility and a new distribution centre for Queensland has been approved."
"Further investment in digital transformation continues with the new Autobarn B2C e-commerce platform being implemented along with new B2B platforms in Australia, Thailand and New Zealand. Bapcor continues to have avenues to drive the performance of the business including further network growth, realising operational efficiencies and expansion of our own brand product range. People remain critical to Bapcor's success and we will continue to invest in our team to be able to deliver on the group's growth agenda," he added.
What's next for Bapcor?
Potentially weighing on the Bapcor share price today will be management's outlook for FY 2022.
It advised that the company's performance was impacted in July by COVID lockdowns across most states in Australia.
As a result, the company is aiming "to deliver proforma earnings at least at the level of FY21" but warned that this "is dependent on the extent of lockdowns and other government-imposed restrictions."
One positive, though, is that management notes that the fundamentals of the vehicle aftermarket continue to remain strong. It expects the trends established during COVID-19 to continue.
Whether that is enough to keep the Bapcor share price afloat today, though, time will tell.
Bapcor share price performance
The Bapcor share price has been a strong performer over the last 12 months. During this time, its shares have outperformed the ASX 200 with a 26% gain.
