ID :
187502
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 14:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/187502
The shortlink copeid
Carsales.com's Roebuck to stay as MD
SYDNEY (AAP) - June 9 - Carsales.com Ltd's Greg Roebuck has hosed down speculation he will step down as managing director of the company he founded 14 years ago.
He also says News Ltd's Carsguide website's planned joint venture won't threaten the company.
Mr Roebuck moved to quash a report in The Australian newspaper on Thursday which claimed he's about to step back from managing operations at Australia's biggest car sales website.
"I'm not looking to leave any time soon," he told reporters at a business lunch in Melbourne.
Any inference there would be a short term change in Mr Roebuck's role was inaccurate, Carsales.com said in a statement to the market.
The newspaper report also suggested Carsales.com's share price had come under pressure from News Ltd's plan to move Carsguide into a joint venture with Automotive Holdings, AP Eagers, Trivett Group and other dealerships.
But Mr Roebuck isn't fazed, saying it will be some time before the joint venture puts a dent in Carsales.com's 70 per cent market share.
"I think new shareholders may make a difference, but I think they've got to get past Drive, Trading Post, before they can claim they're a direct competitor to us," he said.
"I think they've got a long road ahead of them before they're actually more than just a lot of noise."
News Ltd's move was a greater threat to Fairfax Media, whose joint venture with Carsguide was being unwound, he said.
More than 1.8 million vehicle searches are made each day across Carsales.com's 25 websites, and search numbers are set to rise when the company launches motoring.com.au as an editorial brand.
Mr Roebuck created Carsales.com in 1997, listed the company on the local bourse in September 2009, and now dreams of duplicating its business model offshore.
"If everything aligned, that would be a good outcome and we certainly look for those opportunities," he said.
"But we don't want to go somewhere where we'll be an interesting number three or four.
"We only want to be somewhere where we'll be a compelling number one."
Carsales.com's RedBook car database unit has operations in New Zealand, Malaysia, China and Thailand, and the database enables the company to look at expansion in those markets, he says.
Carsales.com's first half 2010/11 profit jumped 45 per cent on a year earlier to $27.6 million, on a 31 per cent rise in revenue.
Japan's tsunami and earthquake interrupted supply across the motor industry, resulting in a small dip in revenue for the company.
"Any impact will hopefully be short term over the next three or four months and (then) supply will return," Mr Roebuck said.
Shares in Carsales.com gained nine cents to $4.70.
He also says News Ltd's Carsguide website's planned joint venture won't threaten the company.
Mr Roebuck moved to quash a report in The Australian newspaper on Thursday which claimed he's about to step back from managing operations at Australia's biggest car sales website.
"I'm not looking to leave any time soon," he told reporters at a business lunch in Melbourne.
Any inference there would be a short term change in Mr Roebuck's role was inaccurate, Carsales.com said in a statement to the market.
The newspaper report also suggested Carsales.com's share price had come under pressure from News Ltd's plan to move Carsguide into a joint venture with Automotive Holdings, AP Eagers, Trivett Group and other dealerships.
But Mr Roebuck isn't fazed, saying it will be some time before the joint venture puts a dent in Carsales.com's 70 per cent market share.
"I think new shareholders may make a difference, but I think they've got to get past Drive, Trading Post, before they can claim they're a direct competitor to us," he said.
"I think they've got a long road ahead of them before they're actually more than just a lot of noise."
News Ltd's move was a greater threat to Fairfax Media, whose joint venture with Carsguide was being unwound, he said.
More than 1.8 million vehicle searches are made each day across Carsales.com's 25 websites, and search numbers are set to rise when the company launches motoring.com.au as an editorial brand.
Mr Roebuck created Carsales.com in 1997, listed the company on the local bourse in September 2009, and now dreams of duplicating its business model offshore.
"If everything aligned, that would be a good outcome and we certainly look for those opportunities," he said.
"But we don't want to go somewhere where we'll be an interesting number three or four.
"We only want to be somewhere where we'll be a compelling number one."
Carsales.com's RedBook car database unit has operations in New Zealand, Malaysia, China and Thailand, and the database enables the company to look at expansion in those markets, he says.
Carsales.com's first half 2010/11 profit jumped 45 per cent on a year earlier to $27.6 million, on a 31 per cent rise in revenue.
Japan's tsunami and earthquake interrupted supply across the motor industry, resulting in a small dip in revenue for the company.
"Any impact will hopefully be short term over the next three or four months and (then) supply will return," Mr Roebuck said.
Shares in Carsales.com gained nine cents to $4.70.
