Asbury Automotive Group Inc

Good day and welcome to the Asbury Automotive Group Q2 2021 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Karen Reed, Vice President and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

Thanks, Operator, and good morning, everyone. As she noted, today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later this afternoon. Welcome to Asbury Automotive Group's second quarter 2021 earnings call. 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 me today are David Holt, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Dan Clara, our Senior Vice President of Operations. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open up the call for questions, and I will be available later for any follow-up questions that you may have. Before we begin, we 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, including those statements relating to the duration and contemplated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance, the impact of the chip shortage, as well as the financial projections and expectations about our products, markets, and growth. All forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements, including potential impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and the semiconductor chip shortage on us, our industry, and our customers, suppliers, vendors, and business partners. 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 2020, any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10Q, 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 measures on our website. We've also posted an updated investor presentation on our website, asburyauto.com, highlighting our second quarter results. It is now my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, David Holt. David?

Thank you, Karen, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second quarter earnings call. In our earnings release this morning, we reported adjusted EPS of $7.78, an all-time record up 209% over the prior year. Star continues to recover from prior year lows. Despite supply disruptions due to the chip shortage, this strong execution in the face of a challenging macro environment enabled us to deliver a strong gross margin of 19.2%, an expansion of 240 basis points versus the second quarter last year. We've also stayed disciplined in managing expenses, resulting in SG&A as a percentage of gross profit of 54.2%, an 850 basis point improvement versus prior year. Our total revenue for the quarter was up 79% year over year, and total gross profit was up 105%. Our balance sheet remains strong due to our performance and cash flow. Our net leverage ended this quarter at 1.6 times. We are in a perfect position to deploy capital and are aggressively pursuing opportunities for growth. A quick update on our strategic five-year plan, as we are now six months in. Same-store revenue growth, assuming 2020 annualized revenue for Park Place, is up double digits and is exceeding expectations. Regarding click lanes, our unit sales are pacing ahead of our plans. Regarding acquisitions, we have about $400 million in revenue under LOI right now. We are also reviewing other opportunities totaling over $8 billion in revenue. We are confident in our goal of $5 billion in revenue over the next five years. With these trending results, we maintain full confidence in our execution on our growth strategy. We will continue to provide quarterly updates on our five-year plans. Finally, I'd like to thank all the hardworking men and women in our company who are focused on our journey to become the most guest-centric retail automotive company. Their passion to serve is inspiring. Thank you. I will now hand the call over to Dan to discuss our operating performance. Dan?