SARASOTA, Fla. — CarBiz recently announced that it has appointed a new chief operating officer, and the company also reported that its second-quarter earnings climbed significantly year-over-year.

Named as COO was Paul Whitley, who was previously the director of finance for CarBiz.

"Paul is a great addition to the executive team," commented CarBiz chief executive officer Carl Ritter.

"His focus will be in the area of corporate finance and collections and his experience will help CarBiz to further improve its operations," he added.

Looking at the company's second-quarter performance, quarterly earnings were roughly $4.42 million, compared with $1.53 million in the second quarter a year ago.

Operating income was approximately $1.41 million, compared with an operating loss of $1.1 million in the prior year period.

Total revenue was $12.8 million, up 46 percent year-over-year.

"This increase was primarily due to increased used-car sales and leases," officials explained. "With a new floor plan funding in place, the company was able to stock and replenish the stores with a variety of inventory, which led to increased sales.

"The company's purchase of Star Financial's portfolio and the growth of its own portfolio combined to increase interest and lease income by approximately $450,000 from the same period ended July 31, 2008," they added.

Breaking it down, CarBiz's used-car sales revenue was $8.2 million, compared with $6.9 million in the same period a year ago.

Consulting and collection services revenue was $139,612, down from $412,942.

"The decrease relates to the July 2008 sale of the software division," officials pointed out. "The three-month period this year includes no software revenue as compared to three months' revenue in the same period last year."

Meanwhile, interest and lease income sales were $1.9 million, versus $1.46 million in the second quarter of 2008.

"This increase is due to the increased portfolio size from self generated sales and the acquired Star portfolio," the company stated.