Source: Radio New Zealand
Turners Automotive Group. (File photo) RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Car dealer and financier Turners Automotive has posted a slightly lower net profit after a goodwill write-down in its credit business masked a record performance across its divisions.
Key numbers for the year ended March compared with a year ago:
- Net profit $38.2m vs $38.6m
- Revenue $451.2m vs $414.2m
- Operating earnings $70.6m vs $61.9m
- Final dividend 9.0 cents per share
After adjusting for one-off costs, Turners delivered a record financial result across its three core operating divisions – auto retail, finance and insurance – with the company saying the final quarter was a record for the business.
Net profit after tax (NPAT) was hit by a $7.5 million non-cash goodwill write-down on its EC Credit business, which it flagged in its March 2026 guidance update.
Stripping that out, its normalised NPAT was $45.6 million.
Group chief executive Todd Hunter called the result a “significant achievement”, saying demand was soft in the first half of the year before rebounding in the second.
Turners Used Cars chief executive Todd Hunter. (File photo) RNZ / Marika Khabazi
“Each of our three core automotive divisions delivered profit growth, and the integrated platform continues to compound as we expand our network and our customer base,” he said, singling out the finance division where new lending grew by more than 50 percent.
The company said it now expected to bring forward its $65 million normalised profit before tax (NPBT) target, originally set for 2028, to the 2027 financial year.
Hunter said the Iran-US conflict had softened trading this quarter, but he remained confident the company could weather the downturn using strategies applied in previous years.
“This is a business that knows how to perform and still grow across cycles,” he said.
The company said softer consumer demand was being offset by stronger earnings from its finance and insurance businesses, highlighting the benefit of diversified revenue streams.
The board declared a final dividend of 9.0 cents per share, fully imputed, taking total dividends for 2026 to 33.0 cents per share, up 14 percent on the previous year.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/21/turners-profit-dips-on-write-down-despite-record-underlying-result/