Boucherville, Quebec – Uni-Select has provided an update for its Canadian, U.S., and U.K. business operations for the months of July and August.
The company says key industry metrics have indicated clear signs of recovery with Canadian traffic levels nearing 2019 levels. Uni-Select’s sales trend also improved progressively month after month to reach 10.9 percent in August since the 45.8 percent trough experienced in April.
Further, as of August 31, 2020, Uni-Select had realized more than 90 percent of the targeted $28 million of annualized cost savings through the Continuous Improvement Plan. As at August 31, 2020, driven by better than expected operations, Uni-Select was able to further improve its access to liquidity to reach over $200 million, up from $182 million at the end of the second quarter.
“Market conditions in all three of our segments have improved sequentially since the trough set in April which is encouraging in the current context. In turn, our monthly organic sales growth has mirrored the improvement in the market. As expected, the Canadian Automotive Group and the Parts Alliance U.K. business segments are returning to historical sales levels at a faster rate than the refinish sector FinishMaster U.S., overall demonstrating the resiliency of our automotive aftermarket businesses,” said Uni-Select Inc. president and CEO Brent Windom in a statement.
“Furthermore, we continued executing our Continuous Improvement Plan, and as at the end of August, realized over 90 percent of the targeted $28 million annualized cost savings. We will continue to diligently monitor the evolution of COVID-19 and its impact on our business, improve our operations and transition to automation to enhance organizational speed and position the Corporation for growth post-COVID-19. In addition, we continued to focus on our cash management plan. As at the end of August, we had sufficient liquidity and were in compliance with our covenants. I would like to thank our team members for their perseverance and dedication as well as our customers and suppliers for their understanding and support.”
Uni-Select plans to release its third-quarter business update on Nov. 13.
