Asbury Automotive Group Inc

Good day and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q2 2019 earnings call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Matt Petone. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's second quarter 2019 earnings call. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. The press release detailing Asbury's second quarter results was issued earlier this morning and is posted on our website at asburyauto.com. Participating with us today are David Holt, our President and Chief Executive Officer, John Hartman, our Senior Vice President of Operations, and Sean Goodman, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the call up for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions you might have. Before we begin, I must remind you that the discussion during the call today is likely to contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than those which are historical in nature. All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements. For information regarding certain of the risks that may cause actual results to differ, please see our filings with the SEC from time to time including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 2018, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our earnings release issued earlier today. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements. In addition, certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules may be discussed on this call. As required by applicable SEC rules, we provide reconciliations of any such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure on our website. It is my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Holt. David? Thanks, Matt.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second quarter 2019 earnings call. We achieved solid results in the second quarter with record-adjusted EPS of $2.38, a 14% increase over last year. We continue to experience new vehicle margin pressure. However, we were able to grow our total front end yield by over $50 per vehicle, grow parts and service revenue by 10 percent, and decrease our SG&A as a percentage of gross profit 60 basis points to 68 percent. We are making good progress executing on our vision to be the most guest-centric company in the automotive industry. Our omnichannel approach is multidimensional and encompasses all aspects of the business. As a reminder, in late 2015, we began changing our marketing approach, starting with the creation of an in-house digital marketing team. This team has transformed our social media, online, and mobile marketing, which has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of our marketing spend. In 2016, we revised and relaunched our online service appointment tool to provide a more convenient option for our customers to schedule service. In the first quarter of 2017, we launched our online sales tool called Push Start, which enables our customers to complete a transaction online and take delivery at home. This year, we added an online loan marketplace. This functionality allows customers to select their preferred financing alternative from specifically tailored offers from multiple lenders. This is an industry first. In late 2017, we launched our Guest Experience Center, which consists of brand certified digital sales specialists that are able to effectively manage online and telephone customer interactions. Last year, we launched our online collision estimator app, giving customers a user-friendly way to easily get collision estimates from their mobile device. Earlier this year, we dedicated a store to become our pilot dealership of the future, where we are testing alternative technologies and processes to optimize the model for the future. Some of the innovations that have been implemented include A tablet-based buying process enabling guests to purchase a car in a fraction of the time that would typically take at a traditional car dealership. Self-service kiosks in the service lane that allow our customers to experience improved speed, convenience, and transparency during the check-in process. We also recently added a service tracker software. that allows our customers to track online the progress of their car through the entire process. We expect this software will enhance both transparency and the guest experience, while at the same time reducing the number of inbound status calls. This holistic transformation of our business involves changes to almost every aspect of our business, including the culture and environment in our stores. While we are focused on being at the forefront of innovation in our industry, we believe that success is driven by a well-designed plan and thoughtful execution, rather than simply speed of implementation. We are confident that our investments in creating an unrivaled guest-centric experience will continue to yield attractive returns. I will now hand the call over to Sean to discuss our financial performance. Sean?