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| Statement |
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| So, it's clear that our customers, commercial sellers as well as franchise and independent buyers and sellers alike are already experiencing the benefits of our 24/7 Digital Marketplace |
| Our Finance business, AFC demonstrated solid performance in 2023, against the backdrop of declining vehicle values and a higher interest rate environment |
| This benefits all of our customers differentiates us versus our competition and strengthens our offering going forward |
| We are now beginning to see the positive impacts of our strategic investments in innovation and technology, our brand simplification work, as well as our diligence around costs |
| I believe our solid execution in the fourth quarter and throughout 2023, delivered strong and encouraging results that position OPENLANE for future growth and success |
| We intend to build on this strong Marketplace performance in 2024, and we also expect our Finance business to be a meaningful contributor to our overall results in 2024 |
| OPENLANE had another strong year of cash flow performance, generating $237 million in cash flow from operations in 2023 |
| And I'm again, as I mentioned in my remarks, very pleased with the very positive feedback that I've gotten from dealers who are active customers and using our dealer-to-dealer solutions, both on the sell and the buy side |
| With the continued focus on risk mitigation, the business grew responsibly and made a meaningful contribution to OPENLANE's bottom-line |
| Our Marketplace business made significant progress in 2023 and finished the year on a strong note |
| This is the strongest year-on-year volume growth for OPENLANE in any single quarter for over 12 quarters |
| The strong revenue and gross profit performance, coupled with disciplined cost management, drove a significant increase in adjusted EBITDA from the Marketplace segment as well as an expansion in EBITDA margin |
| As previously highlighted, this was driven by collective improvements in volume, price mix and cost |
| That is a full year improvement of $79 million and a $16 million improvement in the fourth quarter |
| And we see further opportunities for improvement as we continue to execute on our cost management initiatives and we realize the value from our integrated digital marketplaces, including higher volumes over time |
| Revenues for the year were up 5% and driven by a 4% increase in loan transaction units, higher interest income, and higher fee income |
| For the quarter, gross margins improved 750 basis points or 24% on both a full year and quarterly basis, these improvements resulted from the combination of improved volumes, fees, mix, and cost savings initiatives |
| The overall improvement in Marketplace net revenue resulted in a 21% increase in gross profit on a full year basis or a 560 basis point improvement versus last year |
| We delivered volume growth, revenue growth, $272 million of consolidated adjusted EBITDA and more than $237 million in cash flow from operations in 2023 |
| As I said at the beginning, I'm pleased with our fourth quarter and full year performance |
| I think these Q4 and full year results provide compelling evidence that our digital strategy is the right strategy, that we are executing well given the realities of our environment, that we are investing in the areas that our customers value the most, and that we are delivering a better, more simplified customer experience |
| And because of this, I believe OPENLANE is well-positioned for increased competitive differentiation, continued growth, and strong performance in the years to come |
| So, I think we're a strong performer on the three core dimensions that customers are concerned about on the sell side |
| As we've discussed previously, our digital fees are lower compared to physical auctions, and therefore, our pricing and value proposition position us well to capture share from the physical channel, while opportunistically increasing fees over time |
| And second, in the fourth quarter, overall Marketplace volumes grew by 10%, which reflects improving dealer wholesale fundamentals and improved volumes and mix within our commercial channel |
| And again, I think we've got a very, very strong offering and a very differentiated offering out there for our customers at this point |
| I think it's going to be very positive |
| So, now that we have the commercial and dealer volumes together in one Marketplace, and in parallel with that, we're starting to see more of the commercial volumes flowing into that Marketplace, that's having a real positive impact on our buyer base in that Marketplace |
| And once cars get into that stage of the process, the open sale, those are high ARPU units, high-margin units and very profitable for us as a company |
| First, as we discussed in our last call, our US dealer volumes are growing and our US dealer business is profitable |
| Statement |
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| In the fourth quarter, service revenues declined 1% in the quarter, largely due to lower transportation services revenue |
| Finance segment adjusted EBITDA for the year was $164 million, down $38 million, more than explained by higher credit losses |
| Peter highlighted the fact industry fundamentals are normalizing and in Canada, we experienced a more rapid decline in vehicle values in the second half of 2023, which resulted in a headwind to dealer volumes in the third and fourth quarter |
| Could you tell me was that more systemic to your Canadian business versus your US business? I know they're having really a challenging economic environment up there |
| For the quarter, revenues decreased 4% versus prior year |
| It's been really challenged in the past few years because of what I call the equity gap vehicles being heavily in positive equity at the end of lease and getting bought out by the consumer, by the grounding dealer |
| Most experts predict that wholesale supply will grow only modestly in 2024 and we know that lease returns in the back half of this year and next year will remain low due to the lower volume of leases written in 2021 and 2022 |
| The challenges in Canada have been on the dealer consignment side of the business |
| However, I want to remind you the second half of 2024 off-lease volumes, will begin to see pressure based on low lease originations in late 2021 and into 2022 |
| Many of the factors that had a negative impact on our wholesale used vehicle industry are now starting to return back to what I would describe as more normal, not yet mirroring 2019, but trending in that direction |
| This increased loss rate was due to significant used vehicle value declines, interest rate increases, and tightening retail credit availability that impacted used vehicle retail sales |
| And obviously, they used retail markets challenged right now |
| It feels like a risk that, that customer will take |
| So, that cures been a challenge over the past couple of years |
| On the dealer side, I believe it was down just a little bit versus last year |
| We do look at them differently as we saw -- as we said, the value -- vehicle value declines in Canada, we're a little bit more severe than what we see in the US |
| Looking forward, you can expect similar transportation revenue declines on a year-over-year basis through the first three quarters of 2024 due to this contract change |
| They have negative equity |
| And it's now at the lowest it's been certainly for the last, I'd say, 18-plus months |
| And if so, are you seeing fewer transactions per dealer for any reason? Peter Kelly Yes, we've seen -- as Brad mentioned, we saw some headwinds in the second half of last year on dealer volumes in Canada |
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