Chairman ups stake in Turners

Grant Baker has lifted his stake in Turners Automotive Group to 7.5 per cent, describing the move as a vote of confidence in the business.

His company Montezemolo bought 350,000 Turners shares for $1.16 million, or $3.32 a share, on March 17, a disclosure to the NZX two days later reveals.

Baker’s stake in the car sales and financing company before the on-market purchase was 6.4 per cent.

He told the NBR he believes Turners, whose stock is trading around a three-year high, has “a great future and it’s going really well at the moment”.

Turners is also on course for a full-year profit more than three times higher than bosses calculated during lockdown in April 2020.

Baker, pictured, says the best-case scenario then was for a profit of $10m for the year to March 31.

The company upgraded its forecast on March 10 and now expects a net profit of at least $35m.