Turners slips on profit warning

Vehicle auctioneer Turners Auctions has slashed its profit forecast and blames higher petrol prices and a softer used car market rather than the rising tide of online sales for the drop.

Shares in the vehicle and goods auctioneer finished the day down 43c at $1.90 after the company dropped its full year profit forecast from $6.3 million to $5.4 million.

Turners said vehicle sales so far this year were down 2.2 per cent on the same period last year. The company said it expected to sell more than 80,000 vehicles this financial year.

The market for second-hand cars had "softened" and demand for large vehicles "reduced substantially" in light of the rising price of fuel.

Turners chief executive Graham Roberts said car sales through online auction site Trade Me had not affected the forecast result.

But Trade Me said the number of listed vehicles had grown from 5000 two years ago to more than 35,000.

Michael O'Donnell, business manager at Trade Me, said "exploratory work" was under way for a move into the wholesale market, with plans for a trial by the end of the year.

Turners said one-off restructuring costs of about $400,000 incurred after acquiring complete control of Ehli Auctions in North America would also hit results.

Andy Cuming, Motor Trade Association spokesman, said official registration figures for used car imports were down slightly at 127,384 for the year to October compared to 129,432 last year.

Cuming said although petrol prices might affect the market over time it was "not particularly relevant ... because if people aren't buying large cars they are buying small cars".

In February, Turners posted a record result for the year to last December with net profit up 17 per cent to $7 million. However, it warned at the time that sales growth was slowing.