General Automotive Company (OTCBB: GNAU) reported their financial figures for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008. The company is a provider of original equipment and aftermarket automotive parts, mobile electronics, and related automotive products covering a number of levels of distribution throughout the U.S. and worldwide. They have long-lasting relationships with manufacturers in China, Korea, and Japan which allows them to bring high-quality automotive parts and accessories to automobile manufacturers in the United States.
Revenue rose 51% to $4.07 million for first quarter 2008 compared to $2.69 million a year ago. Gross profit totaled $345,000 for first quarter 2008 compared to last year’s total of $482,000. Net loss was reported to be $504,000, or $0.07 per diluted share, a change from last year’s first quarter’s net loss of $443,000, or $1.15 per diluted share.
Joe DeFrancisci, president and CEO of General Automotive, said, “Since General Automotive became a public company on February 22, 2008, we’ve focused on building a platform for the company’s future growth. We’re pleased with our revenue increase, which was driven by initiatives such as working more closely with our major distributor customers to satisfy the growing demand for engine replacement parts. In tougher economic times, consumers tend to keep their cars longer, increasing the need for the parts General Automotive supplies. We also greatly strengthened our balance sheet, reducing total liabilities from $12.125 million to $4.4 million.
“To increase the efficiency of our operations going forward, we’ve been expanding our Asia sourcing activities and supplier quality programs. All of these actions are putting General Automotive in a good position to execute our growth strategy going forward. Our plan is to grow both organically and via acquisition within the auto parts and accessories product market. Our focus is on finding and acquiring market leaders with strong growth potential for revenue and profit improvement and outstanding management teams,” he concluded.
“Our selling, general and administrative expenses were consistent for the two comparative three-month periods ended March 31, 2008 and 2007,” added CFO Harry Christenson. “Although we achieved certain expense reductions in our day-to-day operations, they were offset by the new costs of being a public company of approximately $217,000. We recorded expenses of approximately $28,000 for the value of stock issued as compensation for services in the three months ended March 31, 2008 as compared to $312,000 in the same period of 2007. However, net loss improved by only approximately $148,000, due primarily to reduced gross profit margins.”
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