GPG takes 20per cent of vehicle auctioneer

Sir Ron Brierley's Guinness Peat Group yesterday took the first steps to a takeover of Turners Auctions, buying nearly 20 per cent of the vehicle auctioneer.

Returning to the share register of the company it floated on the sharemarket in 2002 for $1.50 a share, it splashed out $11.2 million, or $2.10 a share for the stake.

Turners' shares last night closed unchanged at $1.80.

GPG executive director Tony Gibbs said the shares had been oversold since Turners warned earlier this month that full-year profits would fall to $5.4 million, from last year's $7 million.

Turners blamed higher petrol prices and a softer used car market for the profit fall. It explicitly rejected analysts' concerns that the rising tide of online sales was responsible.

Gibbs declined to give details of his plans nor say whether he planned a full takeover. Fisher Funds was the seller of the stake. Chief investment officer Warren Couillault said the fund had been considering an exit for some time.

Fisher believes competition from online trading could hurt and was worried Turners was not advancing key plans with enough haste.