Pub. 3 2022 Issue 3

BY THE NUMBERS Overcoming Obstacles Impacting Dealership Profits and Valuations By Tasha R. Sinclair, CPA/ABV, Chairperson, AutoCPA Group member of Tetrick & Bartlett, PLLC’s Dealer Services Team Leading publishers of Blue-Sky multiples agree that buyers have shifted the application of Blue-Sky multiples from historical adjusted profits from the last twelve months to a three-year average of adjusted profits as a predictor of future earnings. For 2022, this approach incorporates two out of three years of outperformance. The decreased supply of new vehicles resulting from the pandemic and other supply chain issues coupled with strong consumer demand has created the best environment for retailing new and used vehicles that we have encountered. Year-to-date 2022, we have seen new record profit months. But is this level of net profit truly sustainable for the long term? I ask this question considering the following current conditions: • FTC New Safeguards Rule – Most of the substantive provisions of the new Safeguards Rule will go into effect Dec. 9, 2022. NADA had estimated that wvcar.com 14 WVADA

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