Snapshot
Aurora Capital, Inc. (Aurora) operates a fully integrated, sub-prime automotive finance and pre-owned vehicle sales operation in Florida. Founded in October 1990 as a stand-alone auto finance company, the enterprise has grown to include seven wholly owned and mutually supportive subsidiaries under the Aurora corporate umbrella.
• Flamingo Financing -- sub-prime financing for used cars and light trucks
• Car Plaza -- pre-owned car and light truck retailing at price tags up to $15,000
• Dandy Wheels -- bay recondition, repair and service facility
• Kodata -- proprietary automotive finance software and IT support service
• FIA -- insurance agency
• D.O.P. Investments -- automotive related real estate ownership and management
• Eversure -- reinsurance of warranty contracts – Gold Seal Certified – issued by Warrantech to Car Plaza customers
Aurora has 134 employees at 16 locations throughout Florida, a state which lacks widespread public transportation infrastructure. Thus, a person who wants a job in Florida must own a vehicle. Based on lessons learned over 17 years of loan underwriting, collection and default management, Aurora’s focus has become automotive finance -- serving the so-called “C” and “D” segments of the sub-prime credit universe. Its customers are part of the labor force but, for a variety of reasons, have either adverse credit histories or no credit records at all.Aurora is a privately held Florida C corporation. Its owners have invested over $27 million of equity, and Aurora funds daily operations via
• $65 million collateralized revolving loan agreement from Bank of America and Capital One
• $2.5 million secured floor plan credit line from Automotive Finance Corporation
• Unsecured medium-term and short-term notes privately placed with accredited investors ($57.4 million raised from 185 investors since inception; $22.6 million outstanding with 109 investors).
• Internal cash generationAurora’s financial results have been audited since inception and since 1998 by the Miami certified public accounting firm of Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra LLP.
Flamingo Financing (Flamingo) services all the retail installment sale contracts (add-on-interest – Rule of 78’s calculation) it purchases and holds them to maturity. Under a legislative exemption in Chapter 520 of the Florida Statutes, interest rates on these notes range from 11 % to a maximum of 17 % depending on loan term and vehicle age. The target loan portfolio makeup is 50 % independent dealer-originated paper, 25 % franchise dealer and 25 % “captive” (i.e. Car Plaza-originated). Car Plaza operates 3 lots in Broward County with a combined capacity of 300 vehicles. It sold 364 units through April 2008 (vs. 722 units at month-end April 2007 and 1458 units at year end- 2007).
As of month-end April 2008, Flamingo was servicing 10,422 active contracts comprising a gross loan portfolio of $81.8 million (vs. 11,210 contracts - $94.7 million - at year-end 2007) due from customers of both independent used car dealers and the used car departments of franchise dealers with whom Flamingo has active relations (together over 370) and from Car Plaza. Gross loan originations totaled $16.4 million (vs. $50.9 million at month-end April).
Aurora’s board of directors has set the following strategic goals: 1) Grow its loan portfolio by 15-25% per year over the next 4-5 years up to $250 million (subject to the availability of cash). 2) Once the portfolio reaches the $250 million milestone the company will aim to become publicly traded. Management expects to meet these goals through controlled growth of the automotive finance business by leveraging its extensive operating experience and seasoned personnel and by continuing to expand its access to fresh capital.
May 2008