Bapcor transformation to deliver payoff in 2024

Bapcor, the ASX-listed parent of automotive retailers like Autobarn and Midas, says its multi-year transformation project, 'Better than Before', has moved into the implementation and execution phase.

The project was revealed in November last year. 

At its full-year results today [pdf], the company revealed some of the first IT-related spending incurred under the transformation, with $3.2 million implementing a new data warehouse, customer integration, and e-commerce systems, as part of more than $15 million on the table for “fit-for-purpose” capex.

The transformation is supported by more than $20 million in new opex, the company said, by way of a one-off “kickstart”, of which more than $19 million was spent this financial year on what Bapcor’s results presentation [pdf] called “interim critical resources and transformation infrastructure”.

The company’s procurement systems are a key aspect of Better than Before, with executive general manager of specialist wholesale Craig Magill saying the company spent three months creating a “data-driven” sourcing process called One Bapcor RFX.

CEO and managing director Noel Meehan said all Better than Before pilot initiatives are now complete, with commercial benefits to commence in 2024.

Other highlights of Bapcor’s tech strategy in 2022-2023 included building a new customer loyalty platform on its CRM system, and rolling out the analytical tools to back a new data-based “strategic pricing” tool.

Bapcor recorded revenue of just over $2 billion, up 9.7 percent on the previous year, but its net profit after tax fell by over 15 percent to $106 million.