AP Eagers has big plans for old Bunnings site at Albion

A Brisbane car retailer has big plans to re-purpose the old Bunnings site at Albion which it recently purchased for $14 million from a well-known local publican.

AP Eagers chief executive Martin Ward at his car dealership in Fortitude Valley.

CAR TORQUE

CAR retailer AP Eagers hasn’t survived for 106 years in a tough business without a strategy to stay ahead of the game.

After announcing a solid profit result on Wednesday, managing director Martin Ward gave your diarist a hint of the company’s strategy to remain relevant in an era of electric cars, ride sharing apps and rising real estate costs. Ward sees less of the big box showrooms and more boutique outlets in shopping centres or other locations.

Ward revealed the company has purchased the old Bunnings site in Hudson Rd, Albion, that will be redeveloped into a 50-bay service centre for a number of the company’s marques, including those that will be located to the company’s planned new HQ at the Brisbane Airport’s Automall due to open by 2022.

City Beat recently revealed that publican James Power, the owner of the Norman Hotel, and his joint venture partner recently offloaded the 4608 square metre Albion site for $14 million compared to the $7.35 million they purchased the property for in March 2009.

Ward says some dealerships currently located along Breakfast Creek Rd at Newstead will be progressively shifted to the airport eventually.

Eagers owns most of the magic mile along Breakfast Creek Rd, with some of its holdings dating back to 1913 when the companywas founded. “There will still be traditional car show rooms but there will be less of them,” says Ward.

Meanwhile, AP Eagers reported a 3.1 per cent increase in profit to $101.2 million for the year to December 31 as it defied falling new vehicle sales acrossthe country.

Revenue increased 1.3 per cent to $4.1 billion.

“Despite declining new vehicle sales data across mainland Australia, our car and truck retailing businesses outperformed themarket,” says Ward. The national truck business delivered record performance for a second consecutive year

Softening of home prices has made people more reluctant to buy big ticket items like cars, with vehicle sales easing fromrecent highs. Australia’s new motor vehicle sales decreased by 3 per cent in 2018 to 1,153,111 units compared to a 0.9 percent increase in 2017.

RESULT BRINGS RELIEF

THERE was a great deal of back slapping as Jamie “Working Class Man” Pherous held court during Wednesday’s analyst call todiscuss Corporate Travel Management’s buoyant half yearly results. “Good result,” gushed John O’Shea from Ord Minnett. “Welldone on the results,” exclaimed Morgan’s Nick Atkinson. “Congratulations on the result,” said Belinda Moore also from Morgans,the brokerage which underwrote the company’s initial public offering in 2010.

The encouraging words must have been a balm for Pherous who spent the end of last year battling a short-sellingattack from Sydney-based VGI Partners. Is all that behind him now? The shares closed yesterday at $28.81 compared to $27.81the week before the short-selling campaign. Time will tell, but what was the analyst from American Express going to ask beforehe got inadvertently disconnected right at the end of the call. “Could he be chasing the secret recipe for how to generatean EBITDA (profit) margin north of 30 per cent when the best performing competitors are doing around half that?” says oneCity Beat spy. “Or was he just looking to sound out the acquisition-hungry Jamie Pherous on the possibility of a reverse takeover?” We will never know.

BEAN COUNTING

HUNDREDS of bean counters converged on the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday for the Xero Roadshow, a conferenceto promote accounting software. Brisbane accountants HLB Mann Judd had their annual knees up breakfast hosted by their wealthmanagement partner Andrew Buchan.

The crowd of more than 120 listened to two doyens of the investment industry – Arun Abey formerly IPAC and now Walsh Bay Partnersand rich lister Kerr Neilson from Platinum Asset Management. Arun discussed what he called the “new abnormal” in investing,encouraging the crowd to consider the private markets, particularly infrastructure. Neilson’s brief was not share marketsbut the “psychological conditioning” that hinders successful investing. Wow a little heavy for breakfast. Spotted in the crowdwere former NRL chairman John Grant, DDH chairman Peter Lockhart and lawyers around town Chris Roche and John Smith.

CHINA CALLING

QUEENSLAND businesses wanting to break into the burgeoning Chinese market should look at attending a business forum next weekpromoting the next big import expo in the mainland later this year. The forum, organised by the Australia China Business Council(Qld) and the China Chamber of Commerce in Australia Brisbane Branch, will be held on February 28 and attended by Chineseconsul-general in Brisbane Xu Jie and Steve Bredhauer, chair of Trade and Investment Queensland (TIQ). Following the inauguralimport expo last year, the Chinese Government will again host the event from November 5 – 10 November in Shanghai.